Never Thought It'd Come To This
by SonOfMadrox
Summary: A lifetime ago, he gave Robin everything. What happens when the Batman decides to take it all away? Five years later and the lives of the Titans are scattered in different directions, but a path of destruction will lead them back home. Futurefic, Rob/Rae.
1. Breaking Point

**Author's Notes: **Hey everyone. How ya doing? Thanks for checking my story out. Hope you like it. The rating is M, but only because I can't rate individual chapters. The first four are rated T, it turns to M after the 5th chapter, but I promise, no lemon. The rating is for language, violence, substance abuse, and some suggestive themes.

So I decided to try something new with this story as well. I'm setting it to a soundtrack. Not like a songfic, because its not always about the lyrics. Sometimes its the music itself that helps carry the mood of the story. Sometimes the lyrics will reflect the character's feelings, sometimes they'll contrast them. I'm approaching it like a movie. I know setting a story interpreted by different people to single person's taste in music might come off as a bit...I don't know...arrogant? But music often helps me find the emotions I use in my stories, and many of these songs helped inspire their scenes.

So I implore you, if you think you might be interested in reading my story, leave me your email in a message or review and I'll send you the soundtrack to whatever chapters I have uploaded (in mp3 format) via YouSendIt. Thanks for reading and I'm sorry this was so long. Cheers.

Oh yeah, and of course I do not own any of these characters. This is just for fun.

* * *

Cold. Stale. The air around them was none too comforting. '_Fitting_', Robin thought, since it was the first time in years that he had set foot in the cave. Location however was not at the forefront of his mind at the moment. The conversation was. 

Green-gloved hands curled into fists. "What do you mean, '_you're stepping in_'?! If you think for a _second_ that-"

"I mean just what I _said_. Your judgment is clouded and your team is spiraling out of your control! I let you have your chance, Robin, but now play-time's over. I'm taking the reigns."

"The only thing you'll _take_ is my foot up your-"

"_Watch_ it, Robin." Batman felt his scowl turn into a snarl, but did little to resolve it. They rarely saw eye to eye anymore. Not that they ever truly did, but Robin used to be better at hiding it. Sure he was more obedient when he was younger, like all children, but now Bruce was learning that Robin's former discipline came more out of fear than it did from respect. Of course he had respect for Batman, probably more so than any other man since his father, but the young mister Grayson was making it painfully obvious that fear was no longer an issue. Regardless, he was stepping out of line and it was time for Bruce to reassert his authority. There would be no backing down on either side.

"Well what gives you the _right_?!? I thought we were partners! I thought we were _friends_!"

"This is_ work_ and there's no place for friends here. If you understood_ that_ we wouldn't be having this conversation in the _first_ place."

Robin said nothing, but was breathing slow and heavy. Each breath felt like it was made of fire. Sweat was forming inside his gloves and under his mask. This was a battle he _had _to win. Everything that was dear to him was on the line. Who would have thought it would be _this_ man to try to take it all away.

"_Really_, Robin, what were you _thinking_?? Entrusting your private network to _dozens_ of strangers all across the globe! Dick…how_ could_ you have put you and your team in that kind of danger?"

"_Danger_?? Those 'strangers' saved our lives! Where were _you_ when the Brotherhood of Evil captured my team? Where were you when they captured _me_?!?"

"You _know_ where I was. I was…_preoccupied_. League business."

"You were playing _Cowboys_ and _Indians_ in the past."

"If I could have been there-"

"But you can't! Not _always_. That's why I need my team. The _whole_ team."

"Asinine. You didn't need to invite them _all_ into your network. _My_ network, Robin! _I _designed it! Had any of them been capable they could have used those communicators to trace themselves back to me! All the components were manufactured by different subsidiaries of Wayne Tech!"

"Well then, it sounds like I'm not the only one who isn't being careful."

The Batman let out a low growl. It was the kind he usually reserved for his rogues or Harvey Bullock. Robin smiled on the inside. He was pissing him off. Time to drive it home. "When I first left Gotham for Jump City we both agreed it was time I went out to do things on my own terms. What I found was a team. I came to you with my idea and you said I was ready. You said I deserved to lead this team. That I had _earned_ it. You made a promise to me, Bruce. You said it would be _my_ team and the extent of your involvement would be to pay the bills. You _can't_ go back on your word now!"

"_Listen_ to me, Robin. You don't get to tell _me_ what I _can't_ do. You compromised my trust!"

"No! _You're_ compromising it now! The Titans International-"

"First of all, no team operating under _that_ surname has _ever_ been successful. Second, this isn't only about them. It's about you and how you're carrying yourself. You're getting careless; you're getting too _personal_…"

Robin's eyes widened from realization, and then narrowed with fury. "…You _son_ of a _bitch_. This is about-"

"The girl."

"She has a _name_. It's-"

"Not important. The _worst_ part is she isn't even the first one! Can't you at least _try_ to be professional? You have to stop treating your team like a-"

"Like a what? A _family_?! Because that's what they _are_ to me, Bruce! They're the closest thing I've had to a family since I left Hailey's. More of a family than you ever gave me. And how do you know about Raven?? What are you, _spying_ on me now?!?"

"_Please_, Dick. Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm capable of. It's insulting."

"_Good_. And what's wrong with me letting someone into my life? You should try it sometime, Bruce. Maybe then you wouldn't be so lonely."

"Hmph. That's _enough_. This conversation is _over_. I can't make you do anything, but as far as the Titans go, it's _my_ network and things are going to be done _my_ way. From here on out, anyone operating under it will adhere to my rules or be discharged. Your friend may have designed and built the tower but I paid for it. If you're leaving, I'll give you a week to clear out."

Tears threatened to well up in Robin's eyes. 'Don't give in, Dick', he thought. 'Don't let him see your weakness…' "_Fine_," he spat. "You want to do it like that? Be my guest. It's been real, Bruce. Thanks for all the _laughs_. Don't expect to see me again. Have fun being alone." Robin rips the mask off his face and throws it to the ground. As he turned to march out of the Batcave, Robin saw Alfred in the corner of his eye. His old friend had remained silent throughout the entire argument, his head hung in shame. "_Merry Christmas_ huh, Alfred?" He said bitterly. No ill will was directed towards the butler yet he felt it all the same.

**Soundtrack:**_"Heroes and Ghosts"_ – Far From Finished

As Robin approached his motorcycle, he felt a fire burning in his belly. The fire was change. He could feel it coming. There was a new wind about to blow into his life, and Robin was ready to face it head on. He mounts the bike, then a sharp, violent kick down like the strike of a match in the heart of darkness and the engine roars to life; a blazing flame in the dead of night.

Sweaty palms and bare knuckles grip the handlebars as Robin twists them forward. The revs of the engine match the pulse of his anger, the heartbeat of his soul. He peels off into the night, Gotham City blurring around him as he speeds past. He goes faster and it blurs further, his old home fading into a memory as the winds beat down on him, pounding his helmet like a fist. The winds of change; just as predicted. And he is ready for them.

Roll opening credits…


	2. Crumble

Hey everyone, sorry for the false update, but I rushed it earlier and just wanted to say thanks so much for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you guys like whats going on so far, I promise it will get much better. I've got a lot of twists and character development planned, so bear with me and I'll try to make it as fun a ride as possible.

A few notes on chapter 2: Fixed some of the spacing problems, sorry about that...its those damn italics. But i love em. Secondly, I totally brain-farted and forgot to put in the soundtrack to this chapter, also i realize maybe I didn't explain it good enough before.

How the soundtrack works: each chapter has a song or two that helps carry the story along in its own way, when it says **Soundtrack:** followed by a title and artist, that's where the song is meant to start playing. Sometimes it plays behind dialogue, other times it will play at the end or begining of a chapter before the narration. If you're interested in the songs, message me with your email and i'll send the mp3s via YouSendIt. I promise this isn't spam, or spyware or anything like that. And of course it won't cost you a thing. I'm just trying to enhance the story to it's fullest.

Anyway, thanks as always for reading. Like what I'm doing? Hate it? Leave me a review, it makes me smile.

-SOM

* * *

"Whoa, whoa Rob, slow your roll, man. What are you _talking_ about? What does this mean?" Cyborg was worried. The half of his face that was still flesh and blood wracked itself with concern. His friend had returned home in an explosion of emotion, he stormed through the door like a whirlwind, but once he made eye contact with the others, the dervish subsided and only Dick Grayson remained. Cyborg watched as a defeated Robin trudged over to the common room and sat down. 

He was sitting now, on the couch with both feet spread apart, elbows on his thighs and face in his hands. Robin looked up slowly, his hands stretching and pulling his face downward as he raised it. "It means it's _over_, Cyborg. This is the end of the Titans."

"Dude…your _mask_." By now the rest of the Titans currently calling the Tower their home had gathered around their leader to hear his news and try to console him. Starfire, Raven, Kid Flash, Jinx, and Beast Boy.

"It was _his_ mask, Beast Boy."

"You mean…he actually _took_ it?" Beast Boy felt his ears droop at the thought.

"I _left_ it."

"_Dude_…" Beast Boy's gaze drifts from his sullen friend to the floor.

"It _can not_ be true, Robin! I refuse to believe it!" Two flowing river bends of tears were traversing down the Tameranian princess' cheeks. Starfire clasped her hands together and held them tightly to her chest. "The Titans _can not_ end!"

Standing just to the side of the others, distanced ever so slightly, Jinx turns to Kid Flash. "Talk about showing up late for the party, huh?"

"Is there anything we can do to help, Robin?"

The teen hero shook his head. "There isn't anything _anyone_ can do, Kid."

Kid Flash knew his name was awkward to say in casual conversation, so he had no qualms when everyone started calling him "Kid" for short. No one said it in a condescending manner, and he knew it was his own fault for picking such a clunky code-name. Perhaps it would have been easier if the rest of the Titans knew his real name, but Kid Flash was a mystery. He and Jinx were the newest members of the Titans, joining only a few weeks prior. They had shown up at the last minute to turn the tide against the Brain and Monsieur Mallah's Brotherhood and stayed on ever since. They were the outsiders. Jinx, a former member of the Hive Five, was one of the Titans first enemies, yet now here she stood with them in perhaps their final hour. It was still difficult for her to try to coexist with these people whom she tried to hurt on so many occasions, but as long as Kid Flash was with her, Jinx felt at ease. Kid Flash was an enigma unto himself. No one had heard of him or knew anything about him until he just showed up one day and defeated the Hive Five on his own (and swayed Jinx over to the side of angels). All anyone knew about him was that he was the second person to bear the name Kid Flash since the current Flash, Wally West and he seemed to share all the powers of his predecessor. The only people who knew who he really was; who knew his story were Jinx and Robin.

Robin now leaned back in his seat, his hands face down on his knees, his head pointed straight up, staring off into the ceiling. Raven sat next to him and gently placed a hand on his. She spoke for the first time since Robin returned from Gotham. "So…what's going to happen to us?"

Like a machine, Robin slowly lowered his head and as he looked into Raven's eyes, he knew she had just asked him more than one question. What would happen to the team? And what would happen to the fresh, new relationship that had just sprung up between the two young heroes? Robin decided to answer the former question first. "We aren't left with many options. Batman's made up his mind. He's taking over the entire worldwide Titans operation and I, for one, am _not_ going to stick around to see that. He said that those of us who are leaving have a week to clear out of the tower. Everyone's free to stay, if you feel like signing up for the Justice League Junior. _Not me_. He's perverting our team, taking away our foundation, what made our team work the way it did. The Titans was by us, for us. What he's turning it into is-"

"An army." Cyborg answers coldly.

"_Exactly_. And they'll have to take their orders from the worst drill-instructor on the planet."

"Man, you can count me out of _that_," Beast Boy's voice almost sounds like a whimper, "That is not what I call a good time."

"You _know_, Robin, we don't need his money." Raven's voice was stern and controlled.

"You're damn right we don't!" Cyborg slammed his fists down. "Screw the funding! We'll break off, form our own _underground_ Titans! You know, counter-culture."

A wild grin appeared on Beast Boy's face. "Yeah dude! We'll show him, it's not the gear; it's the heroes that use em! Uh… no offense, bro."

Robin smiled. "None taken, BB. The thought _had_ crossed my mind. I've got some money saved away, in an account accessible only to me. I could probably keep us going for a little while…"

"I'm sure the city wouldn't mind donating a little cash flow our way," Cyborg added, "Lord knows they owe us one."

Robin just shook his head. "_I know_, I know, but see, I got to thinking…"

"Why do I know I'm not going to like what comes next?" The whimper in Beast Boy's voice returned.

**Soundtrack: **_"Out of Gas"_ - Modest Mouse

"_Maybe_…" Robin's voice seemed to trail off in thought. "Maybe it's time we just called it quits. Now wait, hear me out, alright? We've spent the last six years or so working and fighting. We gave some of the best years of our lives to make sure that this city and the whole world stayed safe. Well, I think we accomplished that. We saved the world _how_ many times, now? And our city…_look_ at our city! There's no crime anymore. The bad guys are scared of us. They know how much power we have now. No villain wants to come to Jump."

"Yeah, I can vouch for that one," Jinx says with an almost apologetic smile.

"So listen," Robin continued. "The Titans will go on, they'll keep saving lives; it just won't be our team anymore. He may be an asshole, but if there's one thing about Batman it's that he knows how to protect the people that need protecting. He does his job better than most people do theirs. We can at least rest easy knowing that. We've given everything we have for so long…I feel like maybe we've done enough. We've done our time, we've paid our dues. Maybe it's finally time for us to think about our lives. Take some time for ourselves. I don't mean permanently, you know, just for now. Wouldn't it be nice to…I don't know, see what its like to live a normal life? Even just for a little?"

"Hnh. _Normal_, huh?" Cyborg's voice was low and cold. It sounded almost hurt…

"Yeah," Beast Boy chimed in, "That's easy for _you_ to say. You aren't green."

"Or half machine."

"Or half _demon_."

"Or from Tamaran."

Robin stood silent after his friends sounded off their insecurities one by one like a roll call. The silence was broken by Kid Flash.

"Well, I'm pretty normal. Except, you know, I move faster than a hummingbird and eat three times my own weight every day."

Jinx beamed. "I'm _ab_normally cute." She shrugged and smiled a sheepish grin as the others turned to look at her questioningly. "_What_?"

Robin laughed a sad sort of half-laugh and pulled himself up off the couch. "Look, I get it, alright? You guys don't have to follow my lead anymore anyway. But that's what _I'm_ going to do. The closest thing to a normal live I've ever had was being raised in a _circus_. All I want now is a fresh start. Either way, we all have a week to figure out what we want to do. Good luck."

With that he walked out of the common room down the hallway towards his quarters. They all watched him leave in silence.

"So seriously," Cyborg said, "What're we gonna do?"

"I guess I could go back to the _Doom Patrol_…"

Starfire looked puzzled. "But when last we spoke of the Doom Patrol, you said you would rather have dental surgery performed on your oral cavities than rejoin them."

Jinx looked vacantly from Starfire to Beast Boy. "Uh…_what_?"

The green titan grinned. "I said I'd rather have a _root canal_." He sighs, "I guess you're right. I don't want to go back to the Doom Patrol. It'd be just the same as staying here and taking orders from Batman. You know…maybe Robin didn't have such a bad idea after all. I have always wanted to live by the beach…_yeah_…no stress, no worries, plenty of surf and sun…"

Starfire nodded. "I have been feeling a bit of the homesickness lately. It has been a long time since we went to Tamaran… I wonder how Galfor is doing. I hope the crown wasn't too much of a burden. It would be nice to see him again…"

"Yeah, well, I was never really cut out for this whole '_hero_' thing anyway." Jinx waved her hand casually in the air as she talked. "I'll be fine as long as I'm with W-...er…cough, (excuse me!) Kid Flash." She blushed and looked at her boyfriend sheepishly.

"_Jeez_…," Kid Flash gave Cyborg a look that said 'I'm sorry.' "I just wish there was something we could do…but if it's really come to _this_, me and Jinx will probably just hit the road. See the country, or something." Jinx's eyes sparkled at the thought of a romantic road trip with her lover.

"Man! I don't _believe_ this!" Frustration covered Cyborg's words in a thick coat. "Am I the _only_ one who isn't ready to sit back and give up?!" He looked to Raven, who had remained silent since Robin left. "What about _you_? You got anything to say?"

She did not.

"Well," Cyborg said, "Then ain't you at _least_ gonna go talk to _him_?"

Raven sighed. "Eventually. But what do I say? What _can_ I say?" She shot Cyborg a look that told him she wasn't comfortable talking about it in front of the others.

Taking the hint, Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Alright. Let's go."

Using her powers to lift herself off the couch, Raven took to her feet and walked silently out of the room with Cyborg in tow. Once they were out of reach from prying ears, she said, "This _sucks_."

Cyborg nods yet keeps his gaze away from her. "So…we finally gonna talk about you two? You gonna tell me what's up?"

Raven nodded, continuing to walk as they conversed. "Neither of us really meant for it to happen…"

"Are you _glad_ that it did?"

Raven shot him a look, making eye contact for the first time since they left the common room. "Of _course_ I am! You knew how I felt about Robin all these years…"

Cyborg frowned. "I_ did_?"

"Well, you _should_ have."

"Alright, so how _did_ it happen?"

She was having the dreams again. It was only a couple days after the Titans returned home from their final battle with the Brotherhood and the last of their visiting friends had finally taken their leave. Raven thought it was nice to have the common room to herself again and ventured out there late at night to get some reading done. It wasn't long before she fell asleep and the dream came back.

It was always the same. It starts off as a nightmare and then slowly turns into one of those dreams you always regret to wake up from. Raven was reliving the battle with her father, Trigon. The dream would always start with her giving in and submitting herself to her father. Then Robin comes along and saves her from herself. He gives her the courage she needs to defeat Trigon and the dream always ends the same way. With the embrace.

"Raven, that was_unbelievable_!"

"No..._someone_ believed in me." She hugs Robin and in her dream that moment seems to go on forever. But this time something was different. It felt…real. Raven could swear she could almost smell his scent as they hugged…But this is where it ends, always the same. As soon as she subconsciously decides to go in for a kiss…fade to reality.

She sits up suddenly.

"Yah! _Jeez_!"

Raven looked unbelievingly over to a startled Robin, sitting next to her on the sofa with TV remote in hand. Without a word, or even a thought she closes her fist around the collar of his uniform and pulls him in for a kiss. Seconds melt into eternity as the two close their eyes and join their souls at the lips. After what seemed like forever and not nearly long enough, the heroes part and reality slowly begins to snap back into focus.

"Raven…"

Now the dream was gone and she was planted firmly back in the real world. "Oh sh-!" Raven quickly pulls her hood up over her head in shame and jumps up to leave. Robin reaches out for her arm and gently pulls her back.

**Soundtrack:** _"The Stay" _- Ghesoul and Omega Cix

"Raven _wait_…"

"Robin, _no_, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"But you _did_, Raven. That's why you were having the dream, wasn't it?"

Raven just looked at him in shock. "How did you…"

"Because every time you have the dream, I can feel it. I suddenly have these memories, your memories of our fight with your father and I can…" He pauses, "I can feel your emotions. Our bond, I guess."

Arms crossed over her chest Raven sits and pouts. "Well _that_ isn't fair."

"I know it works both ways, Rave. You _must_ be able to know my emotions too. Don't you know how I feel about you?"

Raven shook her head slightly. "Not really. I know you _care_ about me…"

Robin was unconvinced. "_C'mon_ Raven. You know it's stronger than _that_."

"You're my friend, Robin. Closer to me than anyone else…my _best_ friend."

"I could be _more_ than that…if you wanted me to. _Do_ you want me to?" He softly places his hand on top of hers.

"I…of _course_ I do, I just…" She sighs, "I'm scared. I don't want to _lose_ you. I don't want to screw things up. Look at you and Star, things didn't work out and you two were perfect for each other."

Robin let out a tiny scoff. "_Perfect for each other_? Why? Because we _liked_ each other? Other than our attraction we didn't have anything in common. Not like you and I do." He reaches out and with his index finger lifts her chin up so their eyes meet. "Raven, what you and I have is special. It would be a crime if we didn't at least try to see what we can make out of it. Besides, Star and I are still friends. Nothing's changed."

Raven said nothing but moved herself closer to Robin. She cradled in to his outstretched arm and rested her head against his chest. Neither of them said a word for what seemed like hours. Finally, "Do you really know what you're getting yourself into, Dick? I think…I think I _love_ you."

Robin smiles. "I know." He pulls his arm in so he's holding her close.

"And you're _ok_ with that?"

A chuckle. "You mean am I ok with having the most incredible, amazing person I've ever met in my life in love with me? Yeah, I think I can handle that." He turns to look at her. "You know Raven…I'm still not sure I even know what love feels like…but if there's anyone in the world I could ever truly love, I know with all my heart that it's you."

Raven smiled softly to herself.

Fade out…

* * *

More author's notes? Is this guy for real? So only a couple more chapters of "Teen" Titans and then we jump 5 years ahead to the future. To quote 'It's a Wonderful Life', "You might not like what you're about to see..." Nah, it won't be that bad. You can trust me... 

Lots of questions to answer. It sounds like some of the Titans know what they want their lives to be, but what's Cyborg going to do? And Raven? What ever happened to Star and Robin? And seriously, if this story is taking place in the same world as JLU, then who the _heck_ is Kid Flash?! And for_ that_ matter, who the heck is Red X? Wait, is he even in this story? Well, either way, I'll tell you _exactly_ who KF is (I've already hinted at it), and hey, if Red X happens to poke his nose into this tale, I guess I'll be forced to unmask him too. Fun!


	3. Heart to Heart

**Author's notes:** Welcome back, and hey, Merry Christmas everyone and happy holidays. Hope you're all having a great time. So here's chapter 3, sorry for the delay. A quick note, I fixed the spacing problems in the first 2 chapters and added some authors notes to chapter 2 that explain the whole soundtrack thing. So without further ado, lets get right to the story. Thanks for reading!

-SOM

* * *

Deep in thought, Robin laid, back-down, on his bed. His hands rested on top of his head, his eyes were closed but his mind was wide awake. He needed time to think. He needed to be alone. 

As if on cue, a soft tapping emanated from his door. "Robin?"

'Knew _this_ was coming…' He sits up and swings his legs over to the side of his bed. He stands up and walks his dead man's march over to his closed door. It opens. "Hey, Star."

"Robin, I believe that we need to talk."

He nods in agreement. "Yeah, I think you're right."

"May I enter?"

"Ah…that _might_ not be the best idea. Why don't I come out? Let's go for a walk."

* * *

**Soundtrack:**_"Faithless" _– Social Distortion 

Song ends…

"So that's how it started…" Raven and Cyborg had continued down the hallway as they talked and now found themselves in the garage. Raven was sitting, legs Indian-style on the hood of the T-Car while Cyborg was on his back changing the oil under the machine.

Cyborg hated being idle when dealing with problems. He found he did his best thinking when he was able to keep his hands busy as well. "Uh huh…so wait. You just _kissed_ him?"

Raven sighed and looked up at nothing in particular. "Well I didn't _plan_ on it or anything. I thought I was still dreaming…Even now I feel like I'm in a dream. A _bad_ one."

Suddenly a loud CLANG as some unseen piece of metal falls to the floor under the car. "Ah! _Damn_. Yeah, tell me about it, girl. I still can't believe it myself. Who the _hell_ does that guy think he is?"

"_Batman_ or_ Robin_?" She asks dryly.

A chuckle. "Both, I guess. So seriously, Rae. What're you gonna do?"

She rolls her eyes. "You tell me. And would you come out here already? I'm tired of talking to your feet."

"_Alright_, alright." Cyborg crawls out from under the car and leans up against its side, arms crossed over his chest. "Well, what do you _want_ to do?"

Raven looks vacantly off into the air again as she thinks. "Honestly, I don't really care. I never had a real purpose before I found you guys…or we found each other, I should say."

Cyborg smiles to himself. "It felt good, didn't it? Helping people? Felt like I finally re-found my place in the world. You know, since after the accident, I mean." He was referring to the accident that cost him half of his human body and the life of his mother. It was the accident that would turn Victor Stone into the hero known as Cyborg.

Raven nods. "It did feel good. But I have to admit, the idea of living a normal, care-free life? It does sound nice."

"So is that it? You want to be normal?"

She shakes her head slightly. "Not really, I mean, not by myself at least."

"Aaah. I get it. You want to go with _him_ to…where ever it is he goes."

"_Four years_, Cyborg. For four years I wanted to tell him how I felt. But there was always something to be afraid of. What if he didn't like me, what about Starfire, what if it just wouldn't work out? I kept thinking about all the negative consequences our potential relationship might have on the team…"

"But now the team is out of the picture, so to speak."

She turns to look at her metallic friend. "This is probably the best chance I'll _ever_ have at making something work between us. He just seems so sure about what he wants his life to be…what if I don't fit into that picture?"

"Well now you're just being ridiculous. Robin's done some dumb stuff in the past, but even he isn't stupid enough to walk away from you. He's _lucky_ to have you, Rae. Don't ever let yourself think otherwise. Now get outta here and go talk to him already, wouldja?"

Raven pressed her lips together and scrunched her face a bit. "I _will_…but I think I'll wait a bit. Something tells me he's a little occupied at the moment."

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

Raven said nothing but gave him a look that said, 'Duh'.

"Man…that crazy brain-link you guys got going on is creepy."

"Uh huh. Never heard _that_ word before." The two friends looked off into separate directions and smiled to themselves in the comfortable silence. "So," Raven said finally, "that was _me_ sharing. Now it's _your_ turn. I noticed earlier you still aren't talking to either of them. At least not directly. You plan on keeping this up forever?"

"Does it really matter? They'll be out of here in a week, tops. Didn't you hear? They're gonna '_see the country together_'." With that last phrase, he stretched his voice into a mock imitation of Kid Flash's. Cyborg pouted. It wasn't so long ago that he had infiltrated Brother Blood's H.I.V.E. Academy and met a certain pink-haired temptress. The two really seemed to connect, until Jinx discovered it was all a ruse, and that her new boyfriend 'Stone' was none other than Cyborg in disguise. He never got the proper chance to tell her that while his motives for being there were fabricated, his feelings for her weren't. 'Far too late for that now,' he thought.

"Can you really blame her, though?" Raven asked, interrupting Cyborg's train of thought. "She feels like you betrayed her. Or that you didn't trust her. Maybe if you had been honest with her from the start, she would have become a Titan a long time ago…"

"Girl, _who's side are you on_?! You're supposed to be making me _feel better_! That's what I did for you!"

She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. "You want me to make you feel better or you want me to tell you what I think?"

"Yeah, yeah…" He lets out a snort, then the tone in his voice turns to a defensive one. "Well, what's he got that I don't got, anyway?"

Raven playfully punches Cyborg in the arm. "You'll find your girl one day, Vic. And if you really think Jinx is the one, then just be there for her. She'll come around."

He smiles wryly. "I guess you would be the newly-minted expert in that subject, huh?"

"Heh. I guess so. Honestly, for a while there, I thought Star and Robin would be together _forever_…"

* * *

**Soundtrack: **"_Seaweed Sheets"_ – Astronautalis 

Robin and Starfire were outside of the Tower now, walking along the beach. Step by step they moved through the sand in silence, the only noise coming from the gentle rolling of the waves. Neither one had said anything yet, for they both knew that this was to be their first _real_ conversation since Robin had started seeing Raven.

"I am going back to Tamaran." Starfire suddenly said, matter-of-factly.

Robin blinked. "_What_?" That was not how he expected the conversation to start. "You're really leaving?" A wave of guilt washed over Robin just as another wave washed over his feet.

Starfire gave him a warm expression. "Do not be sad, Robin. I _am_ happy here. I am not leaving because of…anything that has happened recently…"

Robin winced. He knew she wasn't talking about the team breaking up.

"I just have been missing my home so much recently, and now that we all have so much time to take for ourselves…I thought it would be nice to go back for a while."

"So you're not leaving for good, then?"

Starfire shook her head. "No, Earth is my home now. However, I do feel like I owe it to Galfore to relieve him of his royal obligations, even if just for a short time." The last time Starfire had been to her home planet of Tamaran, she had won the crown from her devious sister Blackfire. Not wanting to abandon her friends for the throne, she left the crown to her loyal guardian Galfore, the man who had raised her from a child. Now it would be her turn to help him. While once a magnificent warrior, he was getting on in years and Starfire felt perhaps ruling an entire planet was becoming too much of a strain for him. She took a deep breath in and looked out to the sea. Then, she says softly, "You could come _with_ me, you know."

A sigh. "_Star_…you know that wouldn't work."

Suddenly she exploded with emotion. "Why _not_, Robin?! Would it be so awful? You say you want a 'normal' life but you are _**not**_ a normal boy! You are brave and strong and courageous and kind! You don't belong in an apartment, working your days away at a regular job. You could be king! You could be _my_ king. Come with me, Robin. Think of the joy and peace we could bring to Tamaran."

"I'm not _from_ Tamaran, Star."

"And I am not from Earth, yet I think of its people as my own!"

"Alright, you got me there…" He turns and looks up at her so that their eyes meet. "But you know why it wouldn't work out Star. We've been through this; we've done this dance before. Don't forget, it was _you_ who ended it."

She looks down to the ground. "I _know_…"

They had stopped walking and now sat on a large rock, side by side looking out to the ocean.

"Where did it all go wrong, Robin?" She asks quietly. "Everything was so perfect for a while."

He nods. "Yeah, we did have a pretty good thing going."

"What happened to us, Robin?" The question was rhetorical, since they both knew exactly what happened.

"Tokyo happened." On a mission in Japan, the two heroes found themselves finally bringing their feelings out into the open and shared a passionate kiss in the city of Tokyo. "After that kiss…everything just sort of went downhill from there."

Starfire said nothing at first but silently agreed. "Everything became more…complicated."

They both sat and watched as the sky began to turn pink and orange. The sunset was approaching. "Have you kissed Raven yet?" Starfire asked, still not making eye contact with her former boyfriend.

Robin knew he couldn't lie to her. "Yeah…well, actually she kissed me the first time."

'First time?' "There have been many kisses?"

Robin answered but kept his gazed steadily fixed on the horizon. "Not so many, but enough."

"And when you kiss…do things go up or down the hill?"

He wished he could just not answer, but knew this conversation was bound to happen sooner or later and told himself it had to be done. "They go up. Things with Raven have been really great, especially for the small amount of time we've been together."

Starfire felt like she was at a funeral that was coming to an end. It wasn't a fresh heartache she felt; just when she thought she had come to terms with her loss she watches as that final shovel of dirt is thrown on and the hurt comes back one last time. "I am happy for you, Robin. I wish you the best."

The teen hero finally turns to face the beautiful alien. "_Thank you_, Starfire. You don't know how much that means to me." He reaches out and places his hand on her shoulder. "You know how much _you_ still mean to me, right Star?"

She smiles genuinely. "Yes. As much as you still do to me."

"And you know I'll always cherish our friendship."

"As will I." The two friends sat in silence as they watched the sun slowly sink off into the distance.

"Be good to Raven, Dick." Starfire says as she looks back to the tower. "She deserves to be happy."

* * *

**Soundtrack:**_"When You"_ – 50 Fingers 

A little later, the Titans reconvened in the common room. Starfire and Jinx stood leaning against the kitchen-bar as the alien told her new friend about her home planet. Kid Flash sat next to Beast Boy on the couch, giving him some back-seat-driver advice on how to play a game on his Nintendo DS. Raven stood off to the side, leaning a shoulder on the large glass wall as she looked out over the bay.

Tssst. Using the bottom of his forearm, Cyborg twisted the tops off a couple bottles of Root Beer and handed one to Robin. The two friends chuckled as they clinked their bottle necks together. "You know I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't go talk to her soon."

The boy wonder took a swig of his soda. "Yeah, I know. Trust me, I wouldn't fight back." He chugs down another gulp. "So tell me, is it going to be a _good talk_ or a _bad talk_?"

Cyborg smirked. "Ah, you ain't got nuthin' to worry about. It'll be a good talk. Probably one of those cheesy Dawson's Creek moments that'll change your life for the better."

"Hah. Yeah I guess I'm due for one of those, I suppose." The two friends said nothing for a moment as they finished their bottles.

"Hey man," Cyborg said apologetically, "I'm sorry about earlier. Guess I was getting kinda down on you. I'm _happy_ for you, man. Glad you know what you want at least…just make sure you take care of her, huh?"

Robin smiled. "Thanks, Vic. And don't worry; I'm not letting _this_ one get away. So what about you? What are you going to do?"

"Think I'm gonna stay right here, man. Someone from the old guard needs to be here, make sure the original Titans still have a voice on this team. I ain't scared of no Bat. Besides, it's not like I'll be alone. I got my team within a team."

"The Titans East."

"Yup. I know they got my back." Cyborg's face shined with confidence. "I'll show that old boss of yours that he can't make a punk out of Victor Stone and if I only last a week before he gives me the boot, hell, I'll make it a week he'll _never_ forget."

Robin reaches out with his hand turned palm-up. "Give him _hell_, Vic."

Cyborg slaps his hand firmly into Robin's and they grip tight. "Like nothing he's ever seen, Dick."

* * *

The next day: 

Cyborg was alone, sitting in his room. Hunched over his workbench, he had been toiling away for hours. He knew his remaining time with his friends was limited, but he only had a week before Batman took over and Cyborg needed as much time as possible to finish the project set before him. His plan was to install an untraceable fail-safe into the Titans communication and defense systems. He needed to make it advanced enough that not even Batman would be able to find it. Not an easy task. If it worked, it would be his ace in the hole in case he ever had to make a stand against the Dark Knight. 'Batman ain't the only one who can plan contingencies.'

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a voice at his door. "Hey."

Cyborg spun his chair around to see Jinx standing there in his doorway. Her right arm was leaning against the door-frame, her head propped up by her hand. She cocked her left arm, her hand resting daintily on her hip. "We're leaving," she said bluntly. "Don't know why I'm bothering to tell you though; you haven't said two words to me since I got here."

"What do you want me to say?" His voice was void of any emotion.

"How about an _apology_ to start?! That would be _nice_."

"You want to talk _apologies_, why don't we start with all the things you did to us before you _jumped ship_."

Unafraid of the metal behemoth, she stormed up to him to yell into his face. "Oh don't you give me that _crap_! None of it seemed to bother you when you came to the H.I.V.E.! Or was all that time we spent together just a bunch of lies huh, _Superspy_?" She turned away from him and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I can't believe you were my _first_." Venom and remorse coated Jinx's words. "How could I have been so_ stupid_? I mean sure, it was prom and all the rules say you're supposed to give it up, but _dang_! How could you have _screwed me_ over like that? And by the way, I meant that metaphorically. _Ass_. And they say I'm supposed to be the evil one."

"You're right," Cyborg said simply. "I was just doing my job. I needed to get as much information on your operation as possible, and to do that I needed to get close to someone. You just drew the short straw, _darling_."

"Are you _really_ so cold? Is this supposed to be what you're actually like? Just some heartless bastard? Some _hero_. The 'villain' I met back in the H.I.V.E. was a better person." She turned to walk out the door.

"What do you _want_ me to say?" Cyborg said again, this time with a small strain on his voice. "You want me to tell you how sorry I am? Would you even_ believe_ me? You want me to tell you that I've regretted it every day since then. That for one brief moment, I almost considered turning on my friends and throwing my life away…for _you_. I _screwed up_, alright? I should have trusted you. I should have been honest with you. I should have known what a good person you were and that you'd have the guts to stand up for yourself when it really mattered. But I didn't, and I'm _sorry_." Cyborg thought back to all the time they had spent together while he was undercover at the H.I.V.E. "You think I really could have faked all that?"

"I don't know…you were a pretty convincing asshole earlier." A small smile threatened to creep up the corner of her lips. "Thanks, Vince"

Cyborg winced. "Um…it's Vic, actually. Victor Stone. The name I gave you was-"

"Fake. Of _course_ it was." The smile disappeared.

"_Nikki_, I…"

"_No_, I should have seen that coming. Don't sweat it. I gave you a fake name too. My name's really _Jasmine_, not Nicole."

"Really?"

"No."

"So…_Kid Flash_, huh?"

"Oh _please_, don't even start with me. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. He believes in me. He's _honest_ with me. Even my bad luck powers work a little less when I'm with him."

Cyborg raises an eyebrow. "So you know who he really is?"

She sighs, "Of _course_ I know. But I'm not gonna tell _you_. If people found out who he really is…they might try to take him away."

"_What_? Why? Did he hurt someone?"

"No. _Never_. It's just…_complicated_."

"Alright, fine. Say no more. You two are happy, I get it. I'm glad." His tone was unconvincing and he didn't really sound like he meant it, but at least he was able to say the words. That must have counted for something, right?

"Well…I should get going. We got a lot of road to cover, and who knows how much time we really have…"

'There she goes, being cryptic again.'

"But hey," she says, "I'm glad we were able to have this talk. I feel a lot better."

"Yeah, me too. You take care of yourself, ya hear?"

She turns to give him a wink and a finger-gun as she leaves. "See ya around, Tin Man. I mean, _Victor_."

"See ya, Nikki..."

* * *

A week later: 

It was a cloudy night as the two heroes stoop atop the roof of Titans Tower. Raven looked off into the distance, Robin looked only at her.

""I can't believe she really left..."

"Why not? The team was all she had here. Take that away and what's left?"

"Not to mention, she lost _you_." Raven drops her gaze to the ground below them.

"I don't think_ that_ had anything to do with it..."

"You're saying it, but you don't believe it."

"Why are _you_, of all people saying this to me?" He looks to her in concern.

"I don't know. _Guilt_?"

"Heh. Yeah, I think I know _that_ guy. My old friend..." A sigh escapes from his lungs like a prisoner. One whose spirit was broken long ago, and crawls rather than runs for his freedom. "At least she has a purpose now. She's got a whole planet-kingdom to protect. I still don't know _what_ I'm going to do..."

Robin stared off into the night. The city lights glowed like the stars in the sky. It was almost Christmas.

"Do you miss her?" Raven asks him, suddenly.

Robin was becoming exasperated. "Alright, _why_ are you doing this to me? Are you mad at me? If you're having second thoughts about _us_-"

"No! _No_. Ugh, you're so dramatic. It's nothing like that._** I**_ miss her. I never thought I'd actually say it, but I do..."

For a moment, silence covers their conversation with its blanket of black. Then, "Hey, Raven."

"Mm?"

"Want to go for a ride?"

"What?_Why_?"

He shrugs. "Why not? It's not like we have anything to do or anywhere to be. All we have here are ghosts and memories..."

"You want to go right _now_?"

"What better time?" He smiles.

"Corny." She looks first to him, then out to the world around them as the evening wind blows her hair ever so slightly. "Where would we go?"

"I don't know. Anywhere. Somewhere that isn't here."

She half-smiles. "What better place."

"C'mon," he says, "my bike's downstairs." The couple entered the garage and approached Robin's motorcycle. He casually tossed Raven his spare helmet. It was the first time he had taken her out on his bike. In the past, he had just borrowed the T-Car from Cyborg to go out on dates. Or rather, Raven borrowed the car, since she was the only person other than himself whom Cyborg would let drive it. 'If you_ haven't_ worked on her, then you _don't_ get to sit behind the wheel.'

Robin climbed onto the bike, but Raven still wasn't convinced.

"Is it _safe_?" She asked eyeing it out suspiciously.

Robin grinned. "Course it is. Just be sure to hold on _tight_."

As the engine fired up, Raven was surprised to feel excited. As Robin revved the throttle, Raven could feel her heart race. Suddenly they took off like a bullet through the night.

**Soundtrack:**_"Forever Fades Away"_ – Tiger Army

As they raced through the city streets, Raven watched as the buildings and streetlights around her melted together into a kaleidoscope of light and color. She wrapped her arms just a little tighter around Robin's waist. At first all she could feel was the engine shaking beneath her, but then realized she could also feel Robin's heartbeat against her chest. She didn't notice it right away, but their hearts were beating in unison.

As she watched the city disappear behind her, Raven could feel her old life fading with it. All she had now was Robin and the future. That was all she needed.

They were now jetting up the hillside, up to the cliffs that overlooked the coast. Robin brought the machine to a stop when they reached a lookout point with a view that stretched out over the bay. It was the opposite of the view from the Tower, which they could now see looming like a shadow in the distance. Robin lifted Raven up, off the bike into his arms and then set her down in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She reached her arm back and ran her hand through his hair.

"So," she said warmly, "Are we finally going to talk about it?"

"Sure. I'm ready if you are."

"You seemed so sure about what you want to do now that the Titans are done…you want to tell me about it?" She left the question dangling like a worm on a hook.

"There's not much to say. All I want is a simple, normal life. If that's alright with _you_, I mean."

"Why would it have to be alright with _me_?"

He smiled. "The naïve game, huh? Alright, I'll play along. _Because_…" He spins her around so that they're facing each other. "Because I_ love_ you, Miss Roth, and no matter what my life becomes, I want you to be a part of it."

Raven feels a crimson tint wash over her cheeks as she smiles sweetly at the boy holding her in his arms. She kisses him a little as they rest their foreheads against each other's.

"We could do anything you want, Raven. We could travel. I'd really like to take you to Gotham. I think you'd love it there."

Her eyebrows droop a bit as she looks unimpressed. "Why, because it has the word '_goth_' in it?"

"Wow. _That_ was unoriginal."

"_Shut up_." She playfully nudges him in the gut. "Jerk."

"Really, though Raven. We could go anywhere you want. _Anywhere_ in the world. We could see China, India…"

"_Paris_?" Raven's eyes sparkled with hope.

Robin beamed. "Sure. We could go to Paris. We could leave _tomorrow_…"

Raven reaches up and runs her hand through his hair again as she stares into his eyes. "Cute _and_ rich. That's too perfect. You sure you aren't gay, Dick?" They both laughed. "Where would we go _after_ that?" Raven asked, changing the subject back to serious matters.

Robin shrugs. "London? Rome? Glasgow? Anywhere your heart desires, Rave."

Smiling, she shakes her head. "No, I mean in the long run. We'd have to settle down somewhere."

"Well, sure but there's no reason to worry about that _now_. Let's just follow the roads and see where life takes us. We'll find our way."

Raven grabs the hair at the back of his head and pulls Robin's lips into hers.

Forever fades away…

* * *

That's it for chapter 3! What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Switzerland? Let me know what you think. I really appreciate it. So coming up next isn't a full chapter, but a short interlude. It's called "Interlude: Revealed part I". Alright, Kid Flash. Time to take off that mask and whip out your drivers license because the whole world is about to find out who you are. And by 'whole world' i mean the ten or so super awesome people who are reading my story. I love you guys. Anyway, after that we're making the five year jump to see just where our heroes have ended up. Beast Boy, you're up to bat first! 

So thanks for reading everyone. It really means a lot to me. And if you've got the time or energy, leave me a review, let me know what you think. It makes me smile. Once again, Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Peace.

-SOM


	4. Interlude: Revealed! Part I

**Author's note:** Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed or messaged me about the story. Your support and feedback means so much and it makes me want to keep on writing this story as much as I can. Anyway, on to our first interlude, a bridge of sorts between the time gap in the story. Hope you enjoy it!

-SOM

* * *

**Soundtrack: **_"Carry On"_ – Common Rider 

Name: Nicole Diaz

Birth Date: 8/13/1988 (It was a Friday.)

Height: 5'3" Weight: 114lbs

Hair: Pink Eyes: Pink

Restrictions: Corrective Lenses

Blood Type: O-

Organ Donor

Jinx sighed stubbornly as she rolled her eyes, her thumbs digging holes into the pockets of her dark blue jeans. She was leaning her back against the side of an old, slightly dented, slightly rusted 1972 Chevy Nova. Standing in front of her were Officers Roland and Sykes. A couple of highway patrol cops, Roland and Sykes had been on this beat for 4 hours now and this was their first ticket of the day. Talk about bad luck.

Jinx couldn't believe the stupidity of the situation. As they were crossing from California into Nevada, fatigue was starting to take its toll on her and she reluctantly let Kid Flash drive. Fifteen minutes later and they were pulled over. For _speeding_.

'_Unbelievable_,' she thought.

Kid Flash sat in the passenger seat, trying not to show how worried he was. He was glad that he had at least been able to talk Jinx out of stealing a car and instead buying a cheap bucket of crap out of the newspaper. He could only imagine how much worse things would be if they were pulled over for speeding _and_ grand theft auto. It wasn't the ticket that was worrying him though; it was the authority figures and the chance that he might be found out. It was thanks only to his quick thinking that it was him in the car instead of Jinx now, but then again, quick thinking is the only kind of thinking Kid Flash does.

As soon as they saw the blinking blue lights behind them, Kid Flash told Jinx exactly what they needed to do. As soon as they had pulled over, and with the snap of her fingers, Jinx watched as both airbags in the squad car behind them inflated, much to the surprise of the officers trapped beneath them. Using the time they had bought to their advantage, Kid Flash quickly used his powers to swap seats with Jinx in the blink of an eye. Now all they needed was for Jinx to talk them out of any further confrontation. Piece of cake.

She pulls Officer Roland to the side and puts her hand up to the side of her mouth like she was about to tell a secret. "Excuse me, officer but I have some_ special_ identification I think you should see." She reaches into her pocket and slowly pulls out her official Teen Titans membership badge. "See, for the past couple days now, we've been on an undercover mission for the Titans. I'd tell you more but it's classified, _top-secret_, you understand. My partner and I were late for a rendezvous and were trying to make up for lost time. I'm _really_ sorry for breaking the speed limit but you understand the situation it was under. You have my word that no one was in any danger." She gestured with her thumb to the car behind her. "It may not look like much, but it's actually outfitted with the latest in navigation technology and safety precautions."

The officer was stunned. "Ma'am I am _so_ sorry. I feel just terrible about pulling you over, but you know, regulations and all…"

"Absolutely, sir. Think nothing of it. You had no way of knowing who we were."

Roland craned his neck to peer over Jinx's shoulder for a better look at the young man sitting inside the vehicle. "So he's a Titan too?"

Jinx smiled. "Yeah, he is."

"If you don't mind me asking, which one is he? I'm a _big fan_ of your team…" The cop blushed slightly and broke off eye contact with the girl.

Beaming, Jinx replied, "Can't you tell? Look at that red hair, it's a _dead_ give-away." With her arms, she silently charaded out the motions of pulling back the string of a bow and arrow.

"_Oooh_! Of_ course_! He's that archer kid! Green Arrow's old sidekick. He's whats-his-name, Red Arrow?"

"It's _Speedy_, actually." Jinx just couldn't get rid of the grin on her face.

"Oh, _right_. Speedy." 'What a stupid name for an archer,' he thought.

Minutes later, with Jinx once again behind the wheel, the couple was driving off down the highway rolling in fits of laughter.

"Hahaha! _Man_, I can't believe that worked! Babe, you're the bes-_OW_!"

With her left hand on the wheel, Jinx punched her boyfriend in the shoulder with her right.

"What was _that_ for?"

"That was for being a_ moron_. You _know_ what could have happened if they found out who you were!"

"I _know_, I know, and I'm sorry ok? It's just…you don't understand how_ hard_ it is for me to go slow…it takes way more concentration and patience than I'm capable of. Really, baby, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"I _know_ it won't happen again because I'm _never_ letting you drive again. If I have to drink an espresso every hour than so be it! I'm not letting them find you."

Kid Flash looked at his girlfriend in a subtle amazement. 'Time to change the subject,' he thought. "I can't believe they really bought it, though. Good thing we still have our Titan ID's huh?"

Jinx frowned. "Sure, we have them for now, but don't think for a minute that the Batman won't try to take them back once he takes over."

He saw her frown and raised her one of his own. "You really think he'd try to track us down just to get back our ID cards?"

"If any of the stories I've heard through the super villain grape-vine are true, than yeah, I _do_."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. "Well…maybe he won't be able to find us." From the tone in Kid Flash's voice, it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than his companion.

"Come _on_, he's friggin Batman. Of _course_ he'll find us! And _then_ what will we do?"

At first Kid Flash didn't answer, then, "Well, maybe he'll find us and then just leave us alone. I haven't done anything wrong. Maybe they won't care who I am…"

Jinx's lips quivered and her eyes were threatening to tear up. "What am I gonna do when they take you away?? I'll be all alone again with no where to go and who knows what they'll do to you!!"

He reaches out and gently rubs the top of her right shoulder. "Don't worry, baby. Everything's gonna work out, you'll see. We'll figure something out. It'll be fine. _Trust me_."

She nodded. "Ok. I trust you."

"I love you, Nicole."

A combination of a sigh and a smile escaped from Jinx's mouth. "I love you too, Wally."

See, that's the funny thing about time travel. Everyone thinks they understand it but until you've lived through it, you'll never know what to expect. Wally West was living it right now and even he had no idea what the future would bring.

It was just another ordinary day for Kid Flash. The year was 1997 and he had only just recently broken off from his uncle Barry to try and find his own way as a hero. He couldn't recall all the details of the day, but the one thing he remembered was that he was running. Fast. He couldn't remember where to or why he was running, just that he was running. The next thing he knew, he stopped and he was in the year 2007 but he hadn't aged a day. As a Flash, Wally came from a long line of time-travelers, but had never experienced it himself, nor was he ready for it.Wally's first reaction was to seek out his older self. Surely he could help him get back to his old time. Realization started to sink in that he had no idea where to find this 'older Wally', but then Kid Flash had another idea. He'd do nothing. Surely his future self would remember this happening to him from his past and come and find him. After hours turned to days and days to weeks, Wally began to become increasingly concerned. 'What if he has no idea I'm here? What if this never happened to him when he was my age? What if I became some kind of crazy time anomaly and cease to exist!!'

Depression began to sink in, but Kid Flash was not the type to sit around and feel sorry for himself. He decided that the best course of action would be to do get right back into the swing of things. Do what he does best. He would do what he set out to do in the first place. Make his own mark on the world, become his own hero. It wasn't too long after that Kid Flash ran into a group of misfit teen villains calling themselves the H.I.V.E. Five…

* * *

So what'd you think? Good? No Good? Something worth mentioning, this will be the last chapter with the T rating. Come next chapter, the characters won't be teens anymore, so the language and themes will have to adjust accordingly. I'm sure you've already noticed but I try to do things as realisticly as possible (for cartoon characters, at least.) Think its a bad idea? Let me know. Thanks again for reading! Happy New Year! 

-SOM


	5. Spitting Into the Wind

**Author's Notes: **HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Here's wishing you all the best of luck in 2008, hope you make it a good one.

First thing's first. **Rating change.** This fic is now rated M, and will remain that way probably until the end. It's five years later, our characters are all grown up and the world they now live in will reflect that. The M rating is for graphic language, violence, suggested adult themes, and drug and alcohol abuse. And all in just this one chapter! I know a lot of times these M rated fics can feel forced and mature just for being mature's sake, but I tried to make it so that the swearing and M rated themes feel natural for the story's progression. I promise I won't be too excessive, and honestly, this chapter will probably be the worst. The following chapters won't be anywhere near this one, maybe just some swearing here and there. _Anyway_ sorry for keeping you, and once again a special thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed this story. Here we go!

* * *

**Five Years Later**

**Soundtrack: **_"The Science of Selling Yourself Short"_ – Less Than Jake

The grainy sound of a trumpet horn-line being played through the speakers of a cell phone breaks the silence of an otherwise placid domicile.

"_Now I've come to my senses, that I've become senseless_

_And I could give you lessons, how to ruin your friendships_

_Every last conviction, I've smoked them all away_

_I drank my frustrations, down the drain out of the way"_

"Unngh. Wha?" Gar Logan lazily regains conciseness, his head still pounding from the night before. '_Shit_…' he thought, 'where the hell is that phone?' He rolled out of his bed, literally, since his bed was just a futon mattress on the floor of his room. With all the speed of a two-toed sloth, he began rummaging through the various piles of clean and dirty clothes strewn across his bedroom floor. His phone continued to ring.

"_So I sit and wait and wonder, does anyone else feel like me?_

_Someone so tired of their routine, and disappearing self-esteem_

_I'll sing along, I'm the king of catastrophes! _

_Just sing a-long, yeah with every emergency!_

_I'm so far gone, that deep down inside_

_I think its fine by me_

_That I'm my own worst enemy"_

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" He demands, out of his inanimate object. He receives no answer, and his ring-tone continues to play, seemingly out of nowhere.

"_I could be an expert, on co-dependency_

_And I could write the best book, on underage tragedy"_

Finally, he notices one of his piles of clothes moving ever so slightly. He tears it apart and finds his phone, ringing and vibrating, under it. Before he answers, Gar glances at the screen to see who would have the gall to call him so early. It's Gregor, his shift manager from work.

"Gregor, what the_ hell_, dude? Do you _know_ what time it is?"

"It's half past_ noon_, Gar. Did _you_ know what time it was?"

He pauses. Apparently he did not. "Well, what do you want?" he growls, "My shift doesn't start until four."

"No, _dumbass_, your shift starts at four _tomorrow_. Today you switched shifts with Marian so you could have Saturday night off. _Remember_?"

'Shit.' Gregor was right. "Aw, dude I'm _so_ sor-"

"Can it. Don't want to hear it. You've got twenty minutes to get here before I call our boss and tell him what happened. Just be glad I covered for you for as long as I did."

"You're a saint, Gregor! They ought to name a _preschool_ after you! See you in twenty!"

The young man sighs as he clicks his phone off. 'So much for sleeping in,' he thinks to himself. 'God…my _head_. Was that party last night? No…that was the other night. Shit. Why am I so hung over? What did I _do_ last night?' He wouldn't remember it until much later, but he had actually decided to stay home and watch tv the night before. Then, right as he was getting bored and about ready to call it a night, his three roommates came home, extremely drunk. The trio convinced Gar to take whiskey shots with them, since he had "missed out" on the night's festivities. After four shots and a cannonball, Gar stumbled off to his room to pass out face-down on his mattress.

"_Nnnnghnnn_." Gar let out a groan as he walked over to a small night-stand in the corner of his room. 'I need a wake and bake.' He thought as he reached down to pick an item up off the night stand. It was a glass bong, about a foot high, green and purple in color with a translucent neck. The weed in the bowl was only half-smoked, leftovers from the night before, apparently. Using his thumb, he packs the bowl in tight then a flick of his lighter like a snap of the fingers and the chamber of the water pipe begins to fill with a thick, white smoke. As he exhales, Gar feels an all too familiar haze comfortably filling his consciousness.

He walks down the hallway and into the bathroom. Stepping into the shower, he realizes he still can't get that song out of his head.

"_I been spending my time, at the local liquor store_

_And I been sleeping nightly, on my best friend's kitchen floor_

_So I sit and wait and wonder, does anyone else feel like me?_

_I'm so overdosed on apathy, and burnt out on sympathy"_

The hot water hits his body like a wave of life. He finally feels like a functioning human being. 'Ugh. It's going to be a long day…'

"_I'll sing along, I'm the king of catastrophes! _

_Just sing a-long, yeah with every emergency!_

_I'm so far gone, that deep down inside_

_I think its fine by me_

_That I'm my own worst enemy_

_Let the meaning slip away_

_Lost my faith in another day_

_Self deprecation seems ok,_

_I never thought I'd make it anyway"_

It had been his ringtone for years, and as much as he thought about changing it, it was practically the damn soundtrack to his life. It felt fitting. 'How _did_ this become my life?' he thought. Things weren't always this way for the former hero, but then again, that was a long time ago. Back in his room, he starts to get dressed. He pulls on a pair of black jeans, then lazily crawls into a faded, blue Ramones t-shirt with the words "Gabba Gabba Hey!" across the chest. He spends a few seconds digging around his closet-floor until he finds what he was looking for; his favorite hat. It was an old cap with the colors and logo of the New Orleans Saints on it. Sure, they haven't had a good season in six long years but he liked it nonetheless. It was comfortable, and in more ways than one. It was stretchy, soft, and worn in, and also, well, he just wasn't feeling like much of a winner these days anyway. He turns the hat backwards and pulls it down onto his head, a tuft of dark green hair jutting out from beneath it.

On his way out to the living room door, Gar took a good look around him. The place was a war-zone. Empty pizza boxes and beer bottles for as far as the eye could see. Sleeping among the filth and litter were two of Gar's roommates, Nils and Sully. Sully was on the couch, a hand on his beer-belly, the other drooped off the side of the sofa. Nils was on the floor, on his back with both arms over his face. Next to him was a half-eaten bag of Cheetos and a small white remote control. As he stepped over him to leave, Gar inspected the remote further. "Aw, what the _fuck_!" He kicks Nils lightly, in his side. "_Dude_! What the _hell_, man?! If you're gonna play my Wii at least wipe all the_ Cheeto grease_ off your stupid fingers!"

Nils lets out a groan, but shows no signs of getting up or apologizing. "Nnnh. Screw _you_, man."

Gar lets out a huff in defeat. 'No sense getting all riled up,' he tells himself, 'you're already late for work. Just let it go. You can clean it when you get home.'

The past five years haven't been very kind to Gar, or rather, for the past five years Gar hasn't been very kind to himself. Forever the self-conscious one, Gar found his self-esteem at an all time low when forced to live out on his own. He was happy at first. After leaving Jump City, he decided to stay in California but migrate a bit to the south. Long Beach was his final destination and when he first arrived, he was in paradise. It was girls in bikinis and surfing all day and girls in mini-skirts and partying all night. He had, after all, just saved the world. He was a hero, a celebrity. Beast Boy seemed to be riding high and living life in the fast lane. Of course no one who's ever lived that way has ever had a story that ends in anything but tragedy. After a while, the people in the LA "it" scene started to realize that it had been a long time since Beast Boy had actually _done_ anything. His novelty soon wore off and his shooting star began to burn out.

Like the song said, Beast Boy always had been his own worst enemy. He was always so unsure of himself, always so afraid of what everyone would think of him. One would think that after stepping up to lead a rag-tag team of Titans against the Brain, Beast Boy's self-confidence problems would have come to an end, but it was just the opposite. They were worse than ever before. Now instead of feeling like he would never live up to the standards of his friends, he was afraid he would never be able to live up to his former self. He had, after all, saved the world. He defeated the Brain with his own two hands/paws/claws/wings. How could he ever top that? He was so terrified of failing that he never let himself even try.

He kept in close contact with the other former Titans for a bit, but then started to lose touch, as he became more and more embarrassed of what his life had become. After a while he stopped answering their calls, or he'd answer and then pretend that something would come up and he'd have to cut the conversation short. He just couldn't bear the burden of being the only failure. Everyone else seemed to be doing great. Starfire was the grand-ruler of Tamaran, ushering in a new wave of peace and prosperity unlike anything the warrior-race had ever seen before. Beast Boy hadn't talked to her in over three years. She used to call, or send a royal messenger periodically, but stopped after a while. It was understandable; she was a busy monarch, after all. And his best friend Cyborg, he was the _real_ hero in the big-time. A couple years ago Cyborg was invited into the Justice League and was currently mentoring under his hero, Mr. Terrific. Then there was Raven and Robin. They had retired completely from the super hero life, and were now happily married and living up-coast in Star City. Beast Boy was hurt when he first heard that they had gotten married, since he hadn't been invited to any wedding, but felt a little better when they told him they had eloped at the spur of the moment while in Europe and no one was there but the two of them. Starfire and Cyborg were furious, of course, but they got over it. Gar was just happy to not feel so excluded. When Gar really thought about it, he realized it was Raven and Robin that he envied the most. They never sought out any fame or fortune, but now lived perhaps the richest lives. Robin was a cop of some sort, if Gar recalled correctly. Maybe a detective? And Raven, Raven was a…librarian…or something? He couldn't quite remember. All he knew was that they were happy. He wished he could be that happy. All he had anymore were these numb, empty days. 'Well,' he thought, as he rode to work on his salt-crusted Vespa, 'maybe today will be different…'

* * *

Star City: 

A cold, northern breeze whips through the city as a man with a sniper rifle sits patiently on a roof-top. The wind doesn't bother him, he can't feel anything through his mask, and even if he did, a cold wind would probably be a warm embrace for his even colder heart. The man was a professional. He had no empathy for life. If someone was in his way, he would have to take them out. "It's like eating," he'd always say, "you gotta eat to survive, but if you stop and try to think about every single animal that died so you could get fat, well, you'd probably go fuckin' nuts. You can't think about that shit. You just gotta_ do it_. Couldn't be simpler."

The man wore a red uniform, and from a distance it would appear to be normal spandex, but it was actually an advanced, super-thin Kevlar. His boots and gauntlets were gray, and mounted on his wrists were small semi-automatic pistols. Matching his boots and gloves were his mask and chest-plate, also gray. His mask covered his entire head and was smooth and plain, with no distinguishing markings or designs. His left eye was exposed while his right was covered by a cross-hair scope. The man's birth name was Floyd Lawton, but more commonly went by the name of Deadshot. It was unclear whether Lawton was a true meta-human or not. He posses no physical or mental powers, yet there was one thing that was always true about him. He _never_ missed. Normally an assassin for hire, this time Deadshot was here in Star City on a personal errand.

He had his gaze fixed steadily on the intersection below him and smiled under his mask as he watched a large armored van turn a corner onto the street below him. "Half past noon, right on time." He lifts the rifle up to position and looks into the scope. As he sets his sights on one of the tires, he goes over the calculations in his head one more time to be sure. 'Front-wheel drive, so I hit the front left tire at a 40 degree angle, it spins out clock-wise a hundred and eighty degrees and has a rear-end collision with the streetlight right below me. Then two armor-piercing rounds straight down into the center of the cab to scare the driver and passenger out their respective doors. Once they're in the open, I blow out their ankles from the front, causing them to fall face-down like they were shot from the back. Once they hit the ground, I tap 'em each through the top of the head to make sure they stay down. By this time, their buddies in the back of the van should have seen them gone down through the reverse rear view mirrors. They'll open the money doors, and jump out, guns drawn facing the wrong direction. One bullet through the back of each of their skulls and I walk out of here with a cool 20-mil. Easiest money I ever made.'

He fires the first shot from his sniper rifle. KAPOW! The tire blows out and the driver instinctively slams on the breaks. The tires screeched as the van spins out, clockwise a hundred and eighty degrees. KA-RASH! Glass shards showered the street as the rear end of the van smashed into a streetlight, bending it in half. Deadshot put down his rifle and cocked his wrist pistols, ready to fire the two shots into the cab.

"Hey," a voice says from behind him. "You planning on _robbing_ that armored car?"

Without a word, Deadshot swiftly turns around and unloads two clips at the spot where the owner of the voice was standing. He disappeared before the bullets hit him and reappeared to the right. His costume was nearly all black, with gray boots and gloves. He wore a cape, black on the outside, and gray on the inside. His mask was a white skull-shape and the only distinctive marking on his outfit was a red 'X' slashed across his chest.

Deadshot eyes his opponent down. "Who the fuck are _you_ supposed to be?"

"The name's Red X, and that money down there is _mine_. I came here to steal it."

Lawton barks out a laugh. "Nice _try_, kid, but you're too late. I was here first, and_ trust me_, you don't want to step into my crosshairs. Now be a good little rugrat and scram, huh? Daddy's got work to do."

"I don't think so, Deadshot. That money is _mine_."

"You know, kid, that mark on your chest makes a pretty good target. Not that I _need_ one, it just makes it that much easier."

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" He taps the red design with his index and middle finger. "X marks the spot."

* * *

"Hey. Welcome to the 7-11. You find everything alright?" He says the words like a robot, devoid of all meaning or emotion. 

"Uh, yeah, _whatever_ man. I'm just getting this hot-dog."

Gar sighed at the teen holding the hot-dog in front of him. The younger ones always gave him lip. "Fine. That'll be $2.07."

The kid looked at Gar like he had just asked him an algebra problem. "_What_? But it says the hot-dogs are 99 cents!"

He sighs again. "No. The _regular_ hot-dogs are 99 cents. You're holding a quarter-pound Big Bite hot dog. Those are a buck-ninety-nine. With tax, it comes out to $2.07. You gonna dish it out, or you want me to get you a regular, 99 cents hot-dog?"

The kid stares, as if he were contemplating the meaning of life. Then he replies, "Naw man, I'll just get this one. But you guys should really take down that 99 cents sign. It's false advertising."

He throws his hands up in desperation. "_Dude_! It's not false advertising, you just grabbed the _wrong_ hot-dog! Use your _brain_ next time!"

"Psh. Whatever, man."

As the kid walks out of the store, Gar closes his eyes and brings his hand up to cover his face. With his thumb and middle finger, he starts to massage his temples. From behind the blind veil of his hand, he hears a soft giggle.

"Well _that_ looks like a fun job."

He lowers his hand and opens his eyes to see the face of his next tormentor. To Gar's surprise, standing there in front of him was a girl. A _cute_ girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, at first glance she seemed like the typical California beach bunny. But there was something different about her. She had genuine kindness in her eyes, and she seemed to shine from the inside out with innocence and an inner beauty. Besides, he had a thing for blondes. Gar gave her his best smile. "Yeah, I'm thinking about making it my professional, life-long career."

"Heh. Well don't worry. I'm not much of a hot-dog eater. Do you know what they _put_ in those things?"

"_Tell me about it_! I try to tell people all the time, but no one wants to hear it." He looked down at her items, a cup of coffee and a pack of gum. "This all?" he asked.

"Actually, could I also get a pack of Newports?" she asked pointing to the cigarettes behind him.

He reached back to grab the box and casually placed it down in front of him. "Tsk. Those things'll kill ya, you know."

She smiles warmly at him. "Oh they're not for me. They're for my bitchy boss, so hey, here's hoping they work."

Gar glanced quickly behind her to make sure there wasn't anyone else in line. There weren't. He smiled, he had time to talk. "So you work around here?"

"Yeah, I work over at the record store down the street."

"The _Bleeding Ear_?"

"That's the one."

"_No way_! My roommates and I go there _all_ the time! I think I got this shirt there…"

'I cant remember the last time I smiled so much…' the girl thought to herself as she looked into the cute, green boy's eyes. "I know," she says blushing slightly, "I've seen you, I was always…you know, too shy to say anything."

"Heh. There's no reason to be shy around me. I'm _nobody_..."

"Uh, _huh_." The girl smirked. She wasn't convinced. "I like your necklace." She said, pointing to the pendant dangling from Gar's neck. It was a beautiful azure stone set inside an exotic-looking seashell, hanging from a hemp rope.

Gar smiled as he looked down at it. "It's Atlantean, you know."

"_Shut up_!"

He felt his grin stretch from ear to ear. "I'm serious. A buddy of mine lives down there." He lifted the shell up with his fingers. "It's actually a royal symbol of trust."

"No way. You're_ lying_." She looks at him slyly.

He shrugs. "You're right. I bought it from some lady down on the boardwalk. But it's a good story, huh?" It really was from Atlantis, a gift from his friend Aqualad, but whether or not the girl believed him didn't matter at this point. She was smiling, and that was all that Gar cared about.

"So what's your name?" she asks him sweetly.

'Game, set, and_ match_.' "My name's Gar. What about you, pretty girl? What's your name?"

A rose hue tints her cheeks. "My name's Cassie. It's nice to meet you, Gar."

The two are broken out of their perfect little world as the door to the 7-11 jingles and Gar's third roommate walks in. "Sup, Odie." He says to Gar.

"Hey, Parker." Parker had been working at the 7-11 longer than Gar, and he was the one who got him the job in the first place.

"Where's Gregor?"

"He's in the back, reading my comics. He was pissed he had to cover for me this morning, so I told him I'd handle register for the afternoon."

Parker raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What _comics_ does he have?"

Gar shrugs. "I don't know. I gave him a bunch. Madman and the Atomics present Atomic Comics, Walking Dead, some others, I can't remember what."

Parker shrugged back, nonchalantly. "Cool. Well hey, I'm gonna go clock in and then I'll go '_organize the store-room_'" As he said those last words, he pinched his index finger and thumb together and brought them up to his lips, motioning that he was actually planning on having a smoke rather than do any kind of work.

After Parker left through the 'Employees Only' door, Cassie turned to Gar and said, "_Odie_? Why'd he call you _that_?"

A sigh and roll of the eyes. "My name is kinda…short for… Garfield."

She snorts out a laugh. "HAH! _No way_! Dude, that's adorable."

"Ya think?"

"Mmhmm. Hey. So can I ask you a question?"

"That depends. You gonna ask me out or you gonna ask me why I'm _green_?"

The rose tint in her cheeks turned a deep red. "How about both?"

"Both's good." It was a long time since he had been this happy to talk to someone, and even longer since he'd flirted with a girl who wasn't too drunk to walk. "I got a skin disorder. It's called Sakutia. It's pretty rare, but not as rare as you'd think. There've even been some famous people with it. Works out good for me, people see me on the street, think I'm them and then I get a free ride on the coattails."

"Uh huh." She was still unconvinced. "You're him, aren't you?"

"_Who_? Mr. January in the 'Men of Long Beach' calendar? Why _yes_, I am. Thanks for noticing."

She laughs. "No, stop it. You know who I mean. You're that _super hero_. Beast Boy. From the Teen Titans."

He shakes his head sadly. "Sorry. That'd be cool and all, but I'm not him."

"Oh _come on_. Atlantis. Sakutia. There's no way you couldn't be him!"

"Would it really matter if I was?" he says almost sullenly.

"No…" she breaks eye contact and looks down to the counter. "But it _would_ be pretty cool if you were him, cause then I could thank you for saving my life."

Now that caught his attention. "I saved your life?"

She beamed and her eyes twinkled with a look that said '_I knew it_!' "Well, from the way I understand it, you kinda saved us all. More than once."

Now it was Gar's turn to look away. "Yeah, well…that was a _long_ time ago. I'm not that guy anymore. Now I'm just Gar. I work at a 7-11 and I live with three assholes."

"Do you still use your powers? Could you _show_ me?" Cassie felt like a five year old seeing her first magician but she didn't care.

He chuckled sadly. "No…I…I don't change anymore."

"_Whaaat_? Are you_ serious_? If I could turn into a bird, I'd fly _everywhere_!"

"Yeah…I _know_…it's just…using my powers, it reminds me of what things used to be, you know? Kind of brings how much things suck right now into focus a little more."

She gave him a warm, reassuring look. "Hey, things aren't so bad. They could always be worse."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So you _really_ don't use your powers at all?"

He sighs. "I used to, I mean, you know as a party trick, while really drunk. But one night…_ah_….things got kinda out of hand…yeah. I don't do that anymore."

"Did you _hurt_ someone?"

"_Oh, no_. No way. It was this one party at my house, I was totally plastered and there was this girl…I think what we did…we _definitely_ broke some laws…" Once Gar realized he had said those words out loud, he was horrified. 'Oh fuck. _Why_ did I tell her that? Now she's gonna be out of here faster than-'

But Cassie only smiled. "Yikes. I can see why you wouldn't want to use them. But so you don't change into animals anymore. That's cool. You're still_ really cute_." She winked at him playfully.

Gar couldn't believe his luck. "So about that date…"

Cassie let out a small giggle. "Hee. You have anything specific in mind?"

He grins. "There's this concert at the House of Blues on Saturday. Streetlight Manifesto, they're this really killer ska band, half of them used to be in Catch 22 back when Catch 22 was _good_. Anyway, I was going to go by myself, but maybe you'd want to come with me? Keep me from being a big loser?"

"I'd _love_ to, Gar. I think that'd be a lot of fun. I've never been to one of their shows, but they come through at least once a year. They're not from Cali, are they?"

"Nah, they're actually from New Jersey. A good friend of mine is from Gotham, he turned me on to them after I told him I liked ska."

"That's cool. I only ever heard their first album, but I loved it."

"Yeah, me too. They released 'Somewhere in the Between' back in '07. At first I didn't think it was as good as 'Everything Goes Numb', but after listening to it a few times through I could appreciate it more. It's composed really tightly, catchy, dark lyrics contrasted by the upbeat music. Only shame is it doesn't have any song quite as memorable as-"

"A moment of Silence."

"A moment of Silence."

"_Jinx_!" Cassie said, jokingly. "Now you owe me a soda."

"How about I buy you a coffee instead?"

"Nice try, green-jeans but I already _bought_ a coffee." She holds up the cup of 7-11 coffee she purchased from him.

Gar frowns. "No. What you bought is a cup of caffeinated _sludge-water_ with sugar and cream. I'm talking about _real_ coffee. I know a place not far from here that makes a killer soy chai latte."

Her eyes widen with surprise. "How did _you know_ I love soy lattes??"

Gar beamed. He didn't. "Call it a hunch, I guess. Plus, they're my favorite too. So whaddya say? We meet up later; grab some coffee, maybe talk some more about Saturday. Maybe try and get to know each other a little more?"

"That sounds great."

"Well, I get off at 6, what about you? You said you were picking up smokes for your boss, are you still working today?"

A wave of pure horror washes over the blonde girl's face. "Oh my god! _Shit_! I've been on my lunch break, I was only supposed to take _half an hour_! Melanie's gonna _kill_ me! Gar, I'm _so_ sorry, I gotta run, but I'd still really like to have that coffee tonight. Do you have a car?"

"Yeah, totally…except you know…it's more of a scooter than a _car_-car."

"Ha. You're so cute. Well, I've got my car, so don't worry about it. I get off work at eight. Want to meet me outside the 'Ear'?"

"Sure. Eight it is."

As she was rushing out the door, Cassie turned and gave him another wink and a wave. It was the kind of wave that only girls do, where the hand stays still and only the fingers move up and down, slightly. Gar found it oddly fetching.

He returned the wink and tipped his imaginary hat to her with his hand. Things, it seemed, were finally looking up.

**Soundtrack:**_"Meet Me Here Later" _– Astronautalis

* * *

**Soundtrack: **"_Blood Born Rejects" _– The Infected 

Like a showdown scene in an old western, the two masked criminals stood in a dead-lock. Finally, Red X made the first move. A rookie mistake. He shuffled to his left, then spun and rolled to his right, in an attempt to juke out Deadshot and catch him by surprise. For his efforts, Red X received a bullet in his foot.

"_AUGH_."

Deadshot, ever calm and collected didn't move his feet or anything other than his arms, really. The firearms mounted to his wrists flashed with each shot and spat out empty shell casings like watermelon seeds. Deadshot never aimed for where his target was, he predicted where he would be next and aimed there. "Give it up, kid. You got _no chance_. I've been doing this a _lot_ longer than you."

"Yeah…" Red X grits his teeth through the pain in his foot, his molars grinding each other into dust. "But you've never fought anyone like _me_ before." He presses a button on his gauntlet to activate his Zinothium-fueled powers. He extends his index and middle fingers on each hand and reaches up, spreading both arms into the air. The pose was very Nixon-esq, but with his fingers closed, rather than in two peace signs. He then brings both arms down in a hard criss-cross motion, causing a giant Zinothium-'x' to form out of thin air.

"_What the fuck_…?" Deadshot had never seen Zinothium-based weapons before. '_This_ could be a _problem_…' he thought. His opponent kicked the giant 'x', sending it flying at him. Lawton strafed to the side, dodging it.

Although it was capable of capturing him, the first x was meant as a decoy. Taking his chance to strike, Red X activated two smaller x's on the top of each of his forearms. They began to spin furiously, taking the shape of two spinning round blades. He rushed at Deadshot, twirling his arms in large, powerful circles. Deadshot was preparing to guard against the blades on his arms, so Red X swept his legs out from other him with a kick. With the assassin's back to the ground, X continued his attack.

A blade comes crashing down to the right, Lawton rolls to the left. The other blade comes for his head, so he rolls back to the right. He glances at X's stance and sees his opening. He lifts up his right arm to shoot out X's kneecap.

'Perfect,' Red X thought as Lawton exposed one of his firearms. With a casual flick of the wrist, X cuts the wrist-pistol in two, drawing blood from the gunman's arm.

"_**Aagh**_!" Instinctively, he reaches with his left hand to cover to the wound on his right. A mistake, he realizes just a little too late. With his second wrist-blaster now exposed, X pulls his right arm down in a cross-diagonal motion, sending the gun falling to the ground in a small cascade of blood. "Son of a _bitch_! Aggh..._Fuck_!"

His foe currently incapacitated, Red X decided to peer over the edge of the roof, to see if there was still a chance at collecting his prize. Before he even made it to the edge, he could see the flash of red and blue lights. 'Shit. So much for _that_.' He growled a little and kicked Deadshot in the ribs. It made him feel a little better. He summoned a large 'x' and threw it off the roof, as it fell, it gained size and each end connected itself to something around it. A streetlight, a mailbox, the building, a parked taxi-cab. Once connected it stretched out and lay slack, like a giant red hammock. He wrapped the bleeding assassin up like a cocoon in another 'x' and carried him to the edge.

"I won't _forget_ this you little _shit_," Deadshot croaked. "You may have caught me by surprise this time, but _next time_ I'll be ready for you and your little bag of tricks."

"Uh huh. Tell it to your friends _down there_. Here, I'll help you get up close and personal." With that he heaved and threw Deadshot from the roof.

"_AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh_…" Deadshot free-fell until he landed in the safety net provided by Red X.

The startled cops jumped back as the wanted criminal literally fell into their laps. "What the _hell_? Is that _Floyd Lawton_?"

Suddenly a second item fell from the rooftop and landed on Deadshot's chest. "OOF!" It was his sniper rifle. The police officers looked up to the rooftop for a glance of the mystery bombardier. They turned quickly enough to see a masked man clad in black standing there, one leg perched up on the roof's ledge. In the blink of an eye he was gone, disappeared into thin air.

"Who _was_ that?" Officer Mullholand asks his partner.

"No idea, Dave, but whoever he is, he just stopped an _armed robbery_…"

* * *

Saturday: 

The day had finally come, and Gar was becoming frantic. Cassie would be here at any minute and he was still unsure if his abode was presentable. He had cleaned like a mad man, filling seven trash bags to the brim. The floor was vacuumed, the laundry washed and put away, the dvds on the shelves, the cds stacked, the magazines were organized and put in piles on the coffee table. Aside from the irremovable beer stains in the carpet, the place looked almost livable. The doorbell rings. As he swats the sides of his pants to wipe the sweat from his palms, Gar walks up to the door and puts on his best smile. He opens it.

"Hey, _Green-Jeans_." Cassie simpers at him, her expression a mix of innocence and allure.

"Hey _yourself_." His practiced smile melts away into a genuine one. The very archetype of the 'girl next door', Cassie wore a short denim skirt that ended just a little above her knees. Her sneakers were low-cut, faded pink Chuck Taylors; worn in and comfortable. Covering the rest of her was a zipped-up, light blue 'hoody' sweater with dark blue stars and crescent moons adorning the sides. Gar recognized the hoody, it was a Hurley or a Volcom or some such brand. He had seen a hundred of them before, but never did a person look so natural in one than the girl standing in front of him. She was humble and down to earth, the kind of girl you didn't have to take to expensive restaurants or fancy nightclubs. She was the kind of girl he could take down to the diner for a slice of pie and a rootbeer…but alas, that was another story entirely, and it was one best forgotten for the moment. He shakes the memory from his head and replaces it with thoughts of the night to come.

"So, is _x-ray vision_ your _other_ super power?" She asks disarmingly, as she breaks Gar's focus and he stops staring. "You gonna invite me in, or are we just going to stand out here and stare at each other until the concert starts?" She giggles to herself and nudges him in the ribs.

"Haha. Sorry. Here, come on in." With an outstretched hand he holds the door open for her and bows as she walks past. She laughs and rolls her eyes.

She looks around the deceivably clean living room. "You know, I _thought_ this place looked familiar from the outside. I think I've been here before. Did you guys have a big party sometime a couple months ago?"

A chuckle and a shrug. "I'm gonna go with 'yes'. I've lost track of how many parties we've had here over the years, they all sort of just blur together. Lots of little ones, maybe a big rager once or twice a month. Sometimes they're planned, sometimes they just happen."

"That must be fun, huh? I've never lived in a party house before."

"Eh, it gets old pretty fast. It's fun, but it kind of takes a toll on you after a while…"

"_Yeah_, I bet."

"So you ready for this show tonight?" He asks her.

"_Oh yeah_. I can't wait. It's gonna be so much fun. I've been listening to their first album all day. I'm stoked."

He smiles. "Me too. If you think I'm cute _now_, just wait 'till I'm covered in sweat, pumping my fists into the air and skanking around like a rhythm-less spazz. It's _irresistible_."

"Hahaha!"

As Cassie throws herself down onto the couch, Gar heads into the kitchen. "Hey, you want a beer before we go?"

"Sure. Whaddya got?"

He laughs softly. "More like what _don't_ we got." Still facing her, he reaches out behind him and opens the refrigerator door. He turns around and begins browsing through it's contents. "Lets see, we got Guinness, draft and stout, Pacifico, Red Stripe, New Castle, Sierra Pale Ale, Sam Adams, and Heineken. Oh. And _Milwaukee's Best_." He sticks his tongue out at the thought of the last one. "Those are _Sully's_."

"_Jesus_. I've been to bars with less beer choices than that. _Damn_. Uh…I'll take a Red Stripe."

"Slice of lemon?"

"Oooh. _Fancy_. Don't mind if I do!"

A beer in each hand, Gar walked with a swagger back to the couch. Sitting down next to Cassie, he hands her a beer and they clink their bottles together, talk and laugh. Suddenly, the front door goes flying open and Gar's three roommates make a triumphant return.

"WOOO! ODIE!! You ready to _rock out_ witchur _cock out_?!?"

"Uh…not really." Gar holds his hand up to slightly cover his face in shame as Parker practically bounced into the room. In Cassie's eyes, he had gone through a complete 180 transformation from the sullen, zombie-like store clerk to this high-fiving, back-slapping ball of energy. "What's got you so amped up?" Gar asks his roommate suspiciously.

"Nils and Sully just picked up an Eightball! We're gonna _par-tay_ tonight!"

"Ugh." A wave of disgust washed over Gar's face. _Cocaine_. He hated the drug, and he hated it even more when his friends chose to partake in it, knowing full well how he despised it. "Aw _what the fuck_, guys. You _know_ I hate it when you do that shit here."

"Aw _come on_, man," Nils says as he and Sully enter the living room. "We pay rent here _too_, besides, where else are we gonna go?"

"Yeah, bro," Sully chirps in, "You gotta lighten up."

"The big man's right, Gar." Parker coaxes as he points with his thumb back to Sully. "You need to chill out. Maybe your _date_ wants some."

"Uh, yeah no. You guys do whatever you want, we were just leaving anyway."

"_Well_…_actually_…" Gar feels time come to a crashing halt as he hears the timid voice next to him speak the words that break his heart. He turns to Cassie and she looks up at him, nervously. "…I _wouldn't mind_ taking a line before we leave…if that's _ok with you_, Gar."

A grin stretches its way across Parker's face as he reaches out to put his hand on her shoulder. "'_Course_ it's alright with him! Nils! Cut that shit up! Let the little lady take a bump."

Gar couldn't believe his eyes as he watched his entire world come falling down like a decrepit, old building being introduced to a vengeful wrecking ball. Whenever you find yourself in a rut you want to get out of, you always try to surround yourself with people you think are better than yourself. She was supposed to be better than him. She was supposed to be better than _this_. She was going to be the girl who'd save him from himself. The one to take him away from all of this and show him innocence and magic could be a part of his life again. It had been so long since he felt this way about a girl so instantly. Gar hadn't felt like this _since_…since Terra. But no, he couldn't think about that. Not now. He was dealing with enough heartache as it was. As he watched his date holding a straw up to her nose, Gar felt a small part of himself die a little on the inside. It was a feeling that was, unfortunately, becoming all too familiar…

**Soundtrack: **_"Watch it Crash"_ – Streetlight Manifesto

Fade to black…(never come back)'

* * *

**Up next! **"Interlude: I Do" Before we catch up with Robin and Raven in the present time, lets take a trip to a few years back, to that one faithful night in Paris. Don't worry, unlike Cassie's beer, there will be no lemon here. 

Also I should probably note that this will be my last update for at least a week and a half or so. I know, I'm sorry but I'm going home for a week and won't have access to my computer there. I'll do my best to get the next update written as soon as I have the time when I'm back. Until then, previews!

Chapter 5: the chapter is split between Cyborg and Starfire. Guest-starring aliens and Justice Leaguers. I promise it won't be as depressing as Beast Boy's. None of them will. Sorry, Beast Boy...

Chapter 6: Hey, now. Wait a minute. Isn't this story supposed to be about _Robin_ and _Raven_??? Well, lets not waste any more time then, shall we? We go to Star City to meet the happily married Graysons. Or are they? (They probably are.) Also: more Red X!!

So whats up? Love it? Hate it? Shades of gray? Let me know what you think, it helps me write a better story. Till then, thanks and take care!

- SOM


	6. I Do

First things first, I am _really_ sorry for how long it took me to update this story. I won't bore you with the details, just know that I'm really sorry. And since I'm apologizing, I want to say I'm sorry also, for the last chapter. Maybe it offended some of you. If so, I'm sorry. I'm not going to go back and change anything, because I think it helps show that the Teen Titans are adults now, and living in the adult world. It's not always a pretty place. Anyway, if I could rate the chapters individually, this one would be rated T. Some alcohol use and maybe one 'f' word. Nothing like the last chapter, I promise. Oh. One more thing. I'll apologize right now to any of my french speaking readers. I am sorry for butchering your language. Anyway, thanks again for reading, and if you like or don't like something, leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks.

-SOM

* * *

**Paris, France **

**March, 2010**

Just a little over two years after Batman commandeers the Teen Titans.

Paris. The city of love. Ah, if only that were true for everyone… Vivian D'Aramis had lived here her entire life and still has yet to learn the true meaning of the word. Oh sure, she knew what it meant to love certain things. She loved her city and her country, she loved her job (both of them) and she loved her sister Constance. She knew, truly, what it meant to love life. A man, however, now that was another story entirely.

It was a gorgeous afternoon. There's nothing quite as beautiful as Paris in the springtime. Vivian sighed happily as she sat; enjoying a nice, quiet lunch to herself. She was delighted that she had decided to pay a visit to L'Absinthe, one of her favorite bistros, due to its serene outdoor terrace. 'Ah, love…' she thought to herself, 'perhaps we shall meet one day…' Lost in her daydream, Vivian gazes off into the distance, lazily finishing her last bite as her waiter finds his way back to her table.

"Ah, Mademoiselle D'Aramis. Such a lovely day, non? I trust your carpaccio was to your liking?" He gives her a genuine smile and she returns it graciously.

"Oui, Claude. C'est epatant. My compliments to the chef."

"Ah, bon, bon. Merci. Well, here is your bill, Madame. Have a splendid afternoon."

"To you as well, Claude."

Mere moments after her waiter had taken his leave an unseen object in Vivian's purse began to give off a discreet beeping noise. She lifts up her hand and casually taps her right earring, activating a secret, two-way communicator. "Bonjour, J'onn!" Her voice is cheery, yet soft and smooth like velvet at the same time.

"Greetings, Vivian. I take it Constance is off duty, today?" His low, monotone voice was calm and controlled, as always.

"Oui, J'onn. It's just me today. What can I do for you?"

J'onn J'onzz, or the Martian Manhunter as he was more widely known, was one of the original seven members of the Justice League. After taking a brief hiatus from the League in order to get a better understanding of humanity, J'onn returned and resumed his former position as the focal point for communication within the team.

Vivian was always just a little disappointed whenever J'onn called her communicator rather than summoning her telepathically. When J'onn uses his natural Martian telepathy, he could "speak" to you without any actual sound being used. The end result is you "hear" him in your mind, but you're not really hearing his voice, only his thoughts. His 'voice' 'sounds' however you perceive it to. This delighted Vivian to no end; she would always imagine his voice with a cute little French accent. It was the little things in life that brought her joy. Of her two jobs, this one was her favorite. More commonly known by her compatriots as the Crimson Fox, she was amongst the third wave of heroes inducted into the League, along with Fire, Ice, Rocket Red, Booster Gold, Gypsy and a few others. Her natural powers were her superhuman agility and above average strength. Her costume had been outfitted with razor sharp claws on each of her fingers, and through the use of a special chemical compound, she gained powerful pheromone powers. It was her pheromone powers that often times proved the most useful, yet also seemed to cause her the most trouble. Using her charm and female persuasion, she found she could make nearly any man (or woman) do whatever she asked, within reason. The side-effect, however was that most of her victims ended up falling in love with her. But real love isn't forged by science and super-powers. No, Vivian vowed she would find true love one day, even if she had to fight her own powers to do it. When she wasn't engaged in internal conflict with her powers however, she was using them to fight for the greater good. This was something she enjoyed very much, and it's why she loved being a member of the Justice League so.

"I have a mission for you, if you are able to take it."

"_Anything_ for you, J'onn. What do you have?"

"I am in need of someone to do some recon and surveillance for a friend of mine. You just happened to be in the right area. Nothing dangerous, all I need is for you to gather some information. I understand that you know Paris better than anyone else in the League."

Vivian smiled to no one in particular. Paris was her city. "Oui, J'onn. I do."

* * *

It was their first full day in Paris and for some reason Dick Grayson found himself alone. He and Raven had arrived the night before on the last train in and ended up going straight to their hotel. When he awoke the next morning, she was gone, leaving only a note with instructions on where to meet her. Knowing his girlfriend worked in mysterious ways, Robin tried not to read in to it too much and instead decided to play along. After stopping for a pastry and a cup of coffee, Robin continued his walk to the park that Raven described in her note. He was only a few blocks away when his cell phone rang. He didn't recognize the number but decided to answer anyway. 

"Hello?"

"Robin? It's Jinx."

"_Nicole_?" Robin hadn't heard from her in months, it would have been a pleasant surprise if not for the sense of dread and urgency in the tone of her voice.

"Hi Robin. I just…I just wanted to call to say _thank you_…" She sounded sad, almost defeated.

"Nicole, what's wrong? Is Wally-"

"They found us, Robin. Batman and the others. They'll be here any minute, I don't think we have much time."

'_Dammit_,' he thought to himself. 'Why couldn't you ever let things go, Bruce?' "Hold on, Nicole. Let me think. There must be something we can do."

"No, Robin. You've done enough. I just wanted to call you and thank you for everything you've done for us. We never would have been able to hide from them for this long without your help, I _just_…" she stops as she chokes on her words a little. "I just can't thank you enough. We knew they'd find us eventually. Being able to spend every day of these past couple years with Wally was more than I could have asked for. After all the bad things I've done to you guys over the years and you still helped us out. You helped us more than anyone could have. I don't think I'll _ever_ be able to repay you."

"No. You came through for us when we needed you, Jinx. You helped us in maybe our darkest hour. It was the least I could do. Are you sure there isn't some way I can help now? Maybe if you explain the situation I could help think of a way out."

She pauses for a millisecond but then answers, her voice brave and strong. "No. Wally says he's done running. It's time to face the music. He thinks maybe if he talks to his older self they'll be able to work something out." Robin could sense the pain hiding just behind her words.

"What about _you_, Nicole? How are you holding up?"

"I'll be fine, Robbo. Just as long as I'm with him, I'll be ready for anything. Oh, hey, he's back. Here, hang on a moment. Wait. Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"_Seriously_. Thank you."

"You're _welcome_, Nicole."

"Hello?" The male voice was familiar, although for the first time it wasn't laced with a cheery disposition. "Robin?"

"Hey, Wally. I'm_ sorry_ man…"

"Hey! Don't you say that to me! You don't get to apologize, not after everything you've done for us. Dick…I don't know what to say, man. I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"There's no need to, Wally. I was happy to help. Do me one favor though, will you?"

"'Course. _Anything_. Just name it."

"When you see Batman, if he asks how you managed to evade him for all these years…be sure to tell him it was me. Tell him what I did and how I did it. I'm sure he knows, but I want him to hear it."

"Heh. You got it, bro. Shit. I think they're here. I have to go. Thanks again, man. And tell Raven we said thanks too. Anyway, it's been real, Dick. I hope I see you again some day."

"Me too, Wally. So you're just going to let them take you away? You have some sort of back up plan?"

"You kidding me? Of_ course_ I do."

* * *

Not far away, a man named Emil LaSalle stood just outside the Revson headquarters building. Revson was one of the world's leading manufacturers of perfume and cologne and was stationed right here in Paris. Emil sighed. The past several years had not been easy for him. Once a costumed criminal, he had the misfortune of running into the Teen Titans on his last job. Not the typical thief however, Emil was born nearly a hundred years from now, in the future. Donning a suit of golden, time-traveling armor he called himself Warp and conducted a great number of heists throughout the past, present and future. That was until he encountered the Titans. During their battle, the chronoton generator in his armor was damaged, rendering his time-travel device useless. That wasn't all though. See, that's the funny thing about time travel… It's always got a trick up it's sleeve. As a side-effect, Warp was reverse-aged back to an infant. It was temporary, of course, but by no means an easy ordeal. Over the course of a couple years he grew back to adulthood in awkward, random spurts. No one knew the term 'growing pains' quite like Emil did. By the time he realized he was forever trapped in this time period, all Warp could think about was revenge. When the Brain began contacting all the Teen Titan's former adversaries for their expanded Brotherhood of Evil, Warp leapt at his invitation. He quickly retrieved his armor from police custody. It may not be able to travel through time, but it was still able to travel through space. He could still use it to create small portals and teleport between different locations. Revenge would be sweet and ever so satisfying. 

Of course that isn't how it turned out. You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men… After being defeated again, this time by literally dozens of international Titans, Warp decided to call it quits. He sought a new life, and that is what brought him here, to Paris. This may not be his time, but Paris was still the city where he was born, and perhaps it could be his home again. Of course he barely spoke a word of French, by his time the entire world had been converted to either the English language or Chinese. But that was alright, because he had something better than language, he had a family here. They just didn't know it yet. Emil had done some research and discovered that his great-grandmother on his mother's side was actually something of a business tycoon. Along with her sister she ran the ever-growing Revson company. He needed a stable job and hopefully if he introduced himself as a distant, perhaps long-lost cousin, they would give him one. Emil didn't expect any sort of free ride to easy street, he would be happy with any position at all, just a steady pay-check to keep him going. But first, he would need a place to live. That was proving to be the hard part. He needed to find an apartment to rent and maybe get some extra funds to get him back on his feet and his affairs settled. It seemed the only way to do this was to pull one last heist. Emil sighed again. 'Such famous last words…'

He was so lost in thought that he barely noticed a large man in a Revson security uniform walk up to him. "Excuse me, sir? You've been standing there outside our building for quite some time now, is there anything I might be able to help you with?"

'Oh thank _heavens_,' he thinks to himself with his dry wit, 'at least this one speaks English.' "Excuse me, I just recently moved here and was just trying to take in some of the sights. I didn't mean to concern you."

The security guard relaxed his shoulders and chuckled to himself. "No need for an apology, I understand. It's a beautiful city, isn't it? So what brings you to Paris, a girl?"

"Hah. No, well, not in the classic sense. I've come here to meet some family."

"Aaah. You have family that lives here?"

His father's last name was LaSalle, but Emil's mother's maiden name was D'Aramis.

"Yeah… yeah I do."

* * *

"So…_what_ exactly were you doing all morning?" The young man known during his previous years as Robin was now walking hand in hand with his girlfriend Raven through Le Bois de Boulonge. 'Le Bois' as it was called by the locals was the largest and most famous park in Paris. After talking with Raven about the situation with Jinx and Kid Flash the couple decided to let it go and enjoy the remainder of their first day in Paris. After some minor small talk, Robin was now trying to get some answers regarding Raven's disappearance earlier that morning.

A small smirk plays at the tips of Raven's lips as she replies nonchalantly. "Oh, you know. Girl stuff."

He cocks his eyebrow and tilts his head downwards at her. "That's all I'm getting?"

"That's all you get."

He shrugs it off. "So I was thinking about dinner tonight…"

"You always are." Her tone wasn't so biting or sarcastic as it was playful, if not dry and witty. She was simply stating the matter of fact and she loved egging her boyfriend on, even if she didn't show much emotion while doing so.

"Right. So anyway, like I was saying, I heard about this place not far from here that supposedly makes an amazing Duck Confit. I was thinking maybe we'd try it?"

"That sounds great, Dick. It's been awhile since I've had good duck." As the couple continued along the leafy road, they began to approach the end of the park, near the bottom of Foch Avenue. Raven felt her thoughts waft over to the subject of food. "You know, after all those olive-oil salads I ate in Italy, and not that I didn't like them, but I could really go for a nice vinaigrette salad with dinner. Nothing crazy like raspberry or anything. Maybe an onion vinaigrette."

Robin chuckles lightly. "_Onion vinaigrette_, huh? Well look at you, Ms. 'Food and Wine monthly'."

"Cut it out, Dick. You're way more of a food dork than I am." She smiles at him slyly. "Mr. 'My butler trained at le Cordon Bleu and papa moneybags took me to all the fanciest'-" Raven stopped suddenly as she realized she inadvertently stumbled into a touchy subject. "Dick…I'm _so_ sorry. I didn't mean to bring him up, I just-"

But he only laughed. "It's ok, Honey. _Really_. Don't even worry about it. This trip is just about you and me. Not even Bruce can ruin it."

They had left the park and were now walking down a busy city street. Suddenly, Raven sensed something was wrong. "Dick…Maybe you already know this, but I think we're being followed."

Robin nods. "Yeah, you're right. She's been following us since we passed that first vendor in the park."

Raven blinked. That was nearly forty minutes ago. "You didn't think that was worth _mentioning_?"

"If I thought we were in any danger, I would have said something."

She frowns. Raven had learned long ago to trust her boyfriend and knew that he was more open with her than anyone else in the world but there were still times when she wished he would let her in on things a little earlier. "So how do you know it's a '_she_'?"

"By the way she's moving, and her size."

"You know who it is?" The question was almost rhetorical, Raven was practically sure that he did.

"I'm not a hundred percent, but judging by our location and as much of a description as I can gather using only my peripherals, I'd say it's probably Crimson Fox."

The Justice League. Raven groaned. "I've read her file, and heard some things too, from Cyborg. I hear she's really hard to deal with. A bi-polar, borderline schizophrenic. Cheery and friendly one day, stubborn and rude the next."

Robin smiles. "Oh_ yeah_? I heard there's two of them. They share the costume and have the same powers. Twins, probably."

Raven sulks. "That's_ stupid_. There's no way that's true. It's too ridiculous."

"More ridiculous than the Justice League recruiting a bi-polar schizophrenic?"

"They let the Creeper join, didn't they? And not to mention Etrigan, too."

"Alright, I'll give you the Creeper, but Etrigan's not a schizophrenic, he's a completely separate entity that dwells inside Jason Blood's body."

"But he's a _demon_!"

"Ok, wait. Now as your boyfriend who loves you unconditionally, am I allowed to point out the irony of that, or am I just going to get myself into a bunch of trouble?" He grins and winks at her, Raven smiles to herself and grips his hand a little tighter.

"Any idea why she's following us?"

He shrugs. "Probably just Bruce using her to keep tabs on us. But like I said, I'm not going to let him spoil this. Hey. You want to have some fun with her?" A fire burns in his eyes and Raven knows that Dick just concocted some sort of mischievous plan.

She lets loose with an uncharacteristic grin. "Yeah. I _do_."

* * *

J'onn J'onzz stood alone in the monitor room of the Justice League watchtower. Multi-tasking as always, he was keeping track of and giving directions to the many different missions the various members of the League were participating in. 

"Is she trailing them?" He may have been able to sneak up on nearly everyone else, but not even Batman could catch a telepath by surprise.

J'onn's gaze doesn't falter from the monitor screens as he answers his friend. "Yes. She has been following them for nearly an hour, now."

"Anything suspicious?"

J'onn sighed. "No. Nothing. Just like the last three times you asked me to have them followed."

"Hnnh." Bruce could feel himself getting mad. It rarely ever happened, but he hated being wrong.

"My friend, I'm beginning to worry. I fear perhaps you are obsessing too much, this time."

"I _don't_ obsess."

J'onn decided he would let that one go. "Aside from aiding Kid Flash in hiding from us, I don't believe they have been doing anything out of the ordinary."

"I _won't_ believe that, J'onn. Look at where they've been. Beijing, Bangladesh, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Glasgow, Sicily, Rome, and now Paris. They're _globe-trotting_ again. They must be trying to contact the rest of my Titans. Perhaps undermining some sort of overthrow…"

"Bruce, _please_, listen to me. In the time that I've been observing them, they have done nothing of the sort. They've gone to operas, movies, and concerts. They've gone on picnics; they've been to countless restaurants. They take walks through parks and along beaches. They go sightseeing. They go dancing. In the past two years Robin has stopped a few crimes, but only if they occurred right in front of him, and even then he never displayed any advanced martial arts or gadgets. And Raven has barely used her powers, especially not in public. What ever you think they are doing, I can assure you that they are not. I believe that they are _in love_, Bruce."

"Nnn." 'It couldn't be that simple,' he thinks, 'Robin was the leader of the Teen Titans and Raven was his second in command and the team's most powerful member. They _had_ to be up to something…'

J'onn shook his head as he saw Batman silently mulling over his own thoughts. Perhaps over the years, his friend had forgotten what it means to be in love. If that were the case, than it would truly be a sad state of affairs. Suddenly the monitor room doors behind them slid open in a swift mechanic swoosh and a cheery individual waltzed in.

"Hey J'onn, what's shakin' Bats?" His name was Wally West and he was the fastest man alive.

"Hello, Flash."

"J'onny! How's the wife? Anything exciting going on in monitor land? Hey, is that Crimson Fox? _Rrraow_. Hey Bats, how's the…uh…_cave_?" Flash's mouth always seemed to move about as fast as his brain, and often spoke his sentences in a rapid fire delivery, usually not waiting to have his questions answered before continuing. He turns to Batman. "You wanted to see me?"

Bruce pauses for a second as the Martian Manhunter communicates with him telepathically.

'Are you sure this is wise?'

'We've kept it from him for long enough. We captured the boy this morning, it's time he knows.'

'Yes, agreed.'

"Come with me, Wally. There's something we have to talk about."

"Ok, but I have a meeting with the Keystone City mayor at four, then I'm visiting James Jesse at the psych ward at five and having dinner with Linda at six."

"Hmm. You may have to cancel some of your plans, Wally. We have a serious situation on our hands."

"No problem, Bats. Just let me know what you need."

As the two heroes walked out of the door, all J'onn could do was hope everything turned out well. His acute Martian hearing picks up a bit of their conversation as they leave for another section of the Watchtower.

"So I'm to understand that you have some past experience with time-travel, don't you?" Batman asks Flash.

"Uh huh," he answers nonchalantly. "I do."

* * *

She perched herself like a gargoyle on the dusty rooftop of an old bank. Ever vigilant, Crimson Fox strained her eyes as she searched for her quarry. Although she didn't want to admit it, it appeared that she had lost them. 

Suddenly everything around her begins to glow a strange obsidian color. She feels her body being lifted up just a couple feet into the air and she realizes she can no longer move. "Quoi?! What's happening??"

"That would be _us_." A confident male voice says from behind her.

"_Who's there_?" Still unable to move, Crimson Fox finds herself frustrated at the fact that she can't even turn to see her captors.

"Why don't you tell us?" A female voice deadpans. "You've been following us all afternoon."

"Oh, _mon dieu_! I do not know who you are! My mission was to keep an eye on you and make sure you stayed out of trouble. I was told one of you is a relative to a member of the League, he never told me who!"

"Shall we spin her around, honey?" Arms folded over his chest, Robin puts on his best smug look.

"Sure, why not? Arazath, Metrion, _Zinthos_." She chants her mantra and Raven is able to spin Crimson Fox around in the air, probably a few more rotations than necessary, before having her face the avian couple.

Fox's eyes widen with surprise when she sees Raven. "_You_? I know you! From the Teen Titans! Le Corbeau! The Raven."

Her brow drops a little. Her name is one word long, for Christ's sake. Why is it some people still manage to get it wrong? "Uh…it's _just_ Raven, actually."

"And this strapping, young man next to you?" She bats her eyelashes and Robin feels sweat start to form at the back of his neck.

Raven's brow now fully furrowed, she huffs a little before answering. "He's my_ boyfriend_, so if I were you, I'd put those pheromone powers of yours away before someone gets hurt."

"Ah, mes ami, I wouldn't think of doing anything of the sort. Now, we all know each other, would you mind please letting me go?"

"Not until you lose that fake accent. It's really annoying." Raven looks to Robin, asking him to step in.

'Gladly,' he thinks silently. "So…_Crimson Fox_, huh? Am I speaking to _Vivian_ or _Constance_ today?"

A look of shock washes over the Fox's face. "Y…You _know_??" The accent is immediately dropped, her voice now genuine, if not a little frightened.

Robin flashes Raven a cocky look that screams 'I told you so'. She rolls her eyes at him and turns her attention back to their captive.

"So which one is it?" she asks.

"I…I'm Constance. You have to believe me, I have no idea why the League wanted you followed. My sister took the mission from the Martian, but then she was called away on a business emergency and asked me to take over. I'm sorry, but I have no answers for you."

Robin shrugs at Raven and she releases Constance from her mystic grip. As the two young lovers turn to each other in conference, a wicked snarl brushes Crimson Fox's face.

'Make a fool out of me, will they? I'll _show them_.' Suddenly and without warning, she renders her claws and lunges.

The line inside the bank winds throughout the building like a slumbering serpent. Towards the end, near the door stands a nervous, sweaty man. Emil uses the back of his palm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He wonders to himself why he was acting this way. He's pulled a hundred jobs just like this in the past, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Then again, this was to be his "last" heist. Any career thief will tell you, either your last heist goes bad, or it isn't your last one. Convinced he would have the willpower to leave this life behind, Warp grits his teeth and prepares himself for the upcoming ordeal. The only reason he was standing in line was to familiarize himself with the building. Only an amateur would attempt a blind heist. He needed to get up to the teller's desk. From there, he'd be able to see the layout of the rest of the bank. All he needed to see was the general area the safe would be in. He could do a number of small, quick 'ports from there. Still towards the end of the line and lost in concentration, Warp is shaken out of his trance by the door behind him suddenly swinging open.

An English speaking man stands in the doorway with a frantic look on his face. "There's a fight on the roof!"

Like a Sheppard herding a flock of frightened sheep, the security guards begin evacuating the patrons from the bank. "No! _Dammit_!" Emil curses his luck. If only he had worn his harness, he could have just done a desperate 'port now. But the plan was to make it to the desk, get an idea of the layout, then leave, change into his "Warp" suit and teleport in from the back. Now his only choice seemed to be to leave with the rest and see what all the fuss was about. As he steps outside, his luck goes from bad to worse.

Crowds were gathering as the onlookers all gazed up to the rooftop and pointed. "Le ligue Justice!" A woman cries out.

'Oh great. _Capes_.' Emil raises his hand up to block the sun from his eyes to get a better view. From his angle, he could barely make out the figures on the roof, but one was definitely in a costume.

Crouched like a great jungle cat about to pounce, Crimson Fox snarls and then leaps forward, tearing the air in front of her as she swipes her claws at Robin's chest. He avoids her attack with a backwards somersault, making it look as easy and natural as a child playing hopscotch. Now it was time to go on the offensive. Dick curls the bottom three fingers of his right hand in tight. Then he closes in his index finger but doesn't curl it. He hooks it in with his thumb, its tip touching his middle knuckle. The kempo fist fully formed, he strikes straight forward, catching Constance in her left shoulder."

"Ah!"

When at all possible, Robin liked to start off with a simple, direct attack. It helps to make his sneakier, follow-up attacks all the more effective. He moves around the Crimson Fox in a hakbang tatsulok, a triangle stepping technique learned during his Escrima training. Constance slashes at him again, but this time he blocks it with a double-move called an au batido. The capoeira-based defensive attack starts with a cartwheel and ends with Robin planting his hand on the ground and striking back with what looks like an upside down, flying kung-fu kick. Robin smiled inwardly. It had been forever since he had a chance to flex his old moves. It felt good.

Irritated, Raven let out a loud sigh as she watched her boyfriend showing off, obviously just playing with his opponent. She loved Robin, but he was getting careless. Someone was going to see him without his mask, fighting like the former leader of the Teen Titans when he was just supposed to be her civilian boyfriend. Raven knew it was a risky move, but she predicted that if she were able to move the fight out into the public, the Crimson Fox would be forced to yield. Dick's identity was still a secret, but hers wasn't. It was time to get involved. "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

From the ground, Emil barely hears the first two words, but hears the third one clear as a bell. "_No_…it _can't_ be." Suddenly the outline of a giant black bird forms on the top of the roof and two of the combatants are flown down to the street, appearing in front of the crowd. Sure enough, there in front of him was one of his old foes. Raven, from the Teen Titans. She wasn't wearing her hood and cape, but even in her civilian clothes she was unmistakable. Her eyes were glowing, her arms and hands were postured just as they were the last time he fought her, and then there were those magic words. But soon Warp found his attention drawn to the other woman. The Crimson Fox. Maybe his luck was changing. Historical research told him that the Crimson Fox was none other than his great grandmother and her sister. Before he could be lost in thought, the thief inside him screamed out. Warp turned his head back to the bank. No one was in there. Everyone was outside with their eyes glued to the super heroes. He looked down the alleyway behind the bank. There in a plain shopping bag was his costume, just where he left it. He could run down there, put it on, and teleport into the bank without anyone knowing. But is that what he really wanted? Was there really such a thing as 'one last heist'? Emil sighed in defeat. If he really wanted a new, honest life, he would have to start now. It was either now or never. So which would it be?

"Give up, Fox." Raven droned. "I don't want to fight you. Especially not here, in front of all these people."

"Then let us go back up to the roof, non?" Raven noticed that Constance was using that fake accent again, probably because of the audience. It was most likely to disguise her identity.

'How annoying,' Raven thought. 'She should just get a better mask.'

Suddenly a strange portal appears in between the two warrior women and a familiar face pokes through.

"WARP?!" Raven readies herself for another attack.

"_Wait_! Don't attack! I'm here to help. I'm going to get her out of here, away from you and all these people. I won't hurt her." He turns to Crimson Fox before turning back and looking at Raven one more time. "You _owe me_." Warp gently grabs Constance by the arm and pulls her into the portal.

"WAIT! WHAT ARE YOU-" The portal closes, disappearing into thin air.

'Not a bad idea.' Raven thinks and follows suit, using her powers to teleport herself back to the rooftop where she left Robin. She finds him sitting casually at the edge of the building.

"Hey." He greets her calmly, as if the whole fight had never happened.

'Typical,' she thinks and smiles. "Hey yourself."

"So…crazy day, huh?"

On the other end of the city, another strange portal opens up in an empty alleyway and two costumed individuals tumble out of it.

"-DOING?! Wait…huh? Where am I?"

"Don't worry, you're safe. I wanted to get you away from that crowd before something went wrong. You're a member of the Justice League. Can't have you ruining your image, right?"

"Who _are_ you?"

There would be no dodging that question. Warp slowly lifts his hands up and removes his helmet. "My name…is Emil LaSalle. You'll find this hard to believe…but I'm from a hundred years in the future. I'm your great-grandson."

Constance looks stunned. "My…my _great-grandson_?"

An embarrassed look sweeps itself across Warp's face. "Well…actually I have to admit I'm not sure if you're my great-grandmother or her sister. My great-grandmother's name was Vivian. Vivian D'Aramis."

"That's my sister's name. If you are from the future, what are you doing here?"

"I'm stuck here. I can't return to my own time. I…" He lets out a sad breath. "I've done some bad things. I was going to do another one today. But I don't want that to be a part of my life anymore. That's why I've come to you. You and your sister are the only family I have now, and I didn't know where else to turn. I won't ask for much. Just a job, in your company. Any job. I'll mop floors if I have to. Anything to take me away from my old life."

Constance approaches the situation apprehensively. "That sounds reasonable, but I don't know if I can trust you…" As she speaks the words, a wave of despair washes over Emil. 'Perhaps he was being sincere after all.' "I'll tell you what, Emil. I'll give you a job and a place to stay if you do one thing for me."

"Anything. Name it."

"Tell me about your great-grandmother."

The wave returns. 'How can I?' he wonders to himself. "She…she passed on before I was born…but my great-grandpa always spoke very highly of her. He told me she was a happy woman who loved life and everything about it. He said she used to keep him young."

A wide grin danced across Constance's face. 'So Vivian finds love one day after all…'

* * *

Somehow that rather hectic day managed to transform itself into a beautiful, gentle night. The stars swayed in the night sky like sequence on the black dress of a graceful dancer. A wafting breeze blew through the air like the goodbye kiss of a lover, knowing she'll be with you again soon. 

A modern day Jack's beanstalk, the Eiffel Tower reached up, up, up into the heavens, calling out to lovers everywhere. It beckoned them to scale its heights and witness the view of Paris at night, love incarnate. Two such lovers decided to answer the call that night and were now standing together on the second floor of the tower, looking out over the city.

"Dick?"

"Hm?" They had been standing there in silence for a few minutes; Robin almost lost himself in his own thoughts before Raven pulled him back from the brink.

"Why do you think Bruce always sends Leaguers to trail us? He has all our old friends at his beck and call. You'd think he'd send someone who actually knows us rather than a random member of the Justice League."

Robin shrugs. "Maybe none of them will take the job. I know a lot of the Titans were excited to work with the Batman, but a good deal of them weren't happy with it."

She nods. "Aqualad, Speedy, Argent, Kole and Herald. Argent told me she quit, but that he eventually brought her back in."

"Maybe he finally just realized that he can't antagonize us without driving a wedge between him and his team. That could be why he always uses the League."

As the subject drifted away into the night, Raven swore she could literally feel love in the air. Paris truly was a magical place, especially at night. It's unexplainable but something about being there just makes you want to be in love. Raven smiled at her own luck, for she was already in love.

"Dick? Can I tell you something?"

"Of course, Rave. What's up?"

"Do you know why I fell in love with you?"

The question catches him off guard but Robin doesn't miss a step. "Are we being serious or can I give you a narcissistic, smart-ass answer?"

"We're being serious."

"Then, no. I mean, not really. I don't know how to answer that without making myself feel vain."

She smiles softly. "From the first day I met you, you've always accepted me for who I am. You never judged me, never questioned the way I acted, or thought I was weird or different. You…you made me feel normal, Dick. I know you probably can't understand that, but it meant the world to me. Out of all the Titans, you were the only one who never tried to force me to open up to you. You just waited for me to come around naturally, and I think I formed my most sincere friendship with you because of that. You were always there for me, if there was ever something bothering me, you'd always know it and you'd always come and find me and ask me if I was ok. Even though you always knew…what I am, you still treated me like an equal and shared some of your leadership responsibilities with me. You're the only person to ever truly understand me, without me having to explain myself. Dick, you've always just taken me as I am, and…and I love you so much for it. You're the only person in my entire life that's ever done that."

Robin knew exactly what she meant. Holding her small body close to his own, he thinks back to his friends and the life they all shared in their tower shaped like a T. All the other Titans loved Raven, but there was always a 'but' attached to it. Starfire wished Raven would be less gloomy, and a little more forthcoming. Beast Boy never lived down the day he once said something along the lines of, "Yeah, Raven's great and all, but sometimes she just creeps me out. I wish she could just be more normal."

Robin always thought Raven was perfect just the way she was.

"Well," he says thoughtfully, "I wasn't the _only_ one."

"True, but even he didn't understand me as well as you did. No one does."

He nods. "Still…there was that _one night_…"

Everyone knew that Cyborg was the oldest member of the Teen Titans but it never really seemed to matter until his twenty-first birthday. It was maybe 3 months after the defeat of the demon Trigon and Cyborg was walking to the door of Titans Tower from his car. In his arms were two large paper bags, their glass contents softly clinking together with each step he took. He and Beast Boy had once schemed to get fake ID's and go out to the clubs, but Robin had squashed that idea. Their team leader didn't like the idea of two of the Teen Titans breaking the law to get drunk in a crowded night club. This however was a different story. Getting drunk off legally purchased alcohol in the privacy of their own home proved too tempting for even Robin to dissuade. Cyborg marches triumphantly into the common room. "Alright y'all, who's ready to get drunk!?"

Starfire looks confused. "_Drunk_? Is that anything like the '_crunk_'? Because I am afraid I do not know where to acquire such shiny teeth."

Cyborg decided to ignore that as he put his shopping bags down. Beast Boy slides up to him and peers into the bags like a child trying to get a peek at his Christmas presents.

"So whatcha get?"

Cyborg proudly pulls his prize from their brown paper prison. "Couple bottles of Grey Goose."

Starfire looks bewildered once again. "Goose? That clear beverage comes from your Earth goose-bird? It is some kind of milk?"

Chuckling, Robin walks over to the perplexed alien. "No, Star. That's just the name. It's a type of alcohol. It's called vodka."

"Yeah," Beast Boy grinned. "It's awesome. And _not_ made from geese. It's made from potatoes! In Russia!"

"Actually," Robin interjected, "Grey Goose is made from wheat."

"In _France_." Raven added. 'Idiot', she thought as she glared at Beast Boy.

Beast Boy shrugs it off. "Whatever. Let's just drink it. What kind of chaser did you get, Cy?"

He beams and pulls out a case of slim, blue and silver cans. "Red Bull."

"_Sweet!"_

Starfire frowns. "Red_ Bull_? Is it made from-"

"Star! Enough with the animals already!" Cyborg was becoming impatient. "If you're going to drink it, just drink it. It tastes good. Just keep in mind that the more you drink, the funnier it's going to make you feel. That's what alcohol does."

Her eyes light up. "Ah! Just like Torkzonian Monkey Wine! See, we call it that because it is made from the urine of-"

"Alright! That's enough of the alien gross-out stories! It's my birthday and I want to get drunk!"

The rest of the night went on as any typical night of underage drinking normally would. For the first couple hours, Starfire was in heaven. She was giggling, and laughing and singing. Then, suddenly she didn't feel so good and consequently spent the rest of the night vomiting in the bathroom. Ever the Good Samaritan, Robin went with her to make sure she was ok. He held her hair back, brought her water and made sure she would be alright before helping her to her room and putting her to bed. Beast Boy took only six shots and then promptly passed out. He was still lying on the floor behind the sofa, sleeping like a log. Only two Titans remained.

"Everyone's gone." A pout forms on Raven's face.

"You know what _that_ means," Cyborg says happily, "MORE FOR US!"

An hour later, and after making sure Star was going to be alright, Robin headed back to the common room. He had been drunk earlier but was now already beginning to sober up. He assumed Beast Boy would be unconscious by now but still looked forward to drinking with Cyborg and Raven. As he entered the room, Robin realized that perhaps he would need to have a change of plans. Both bottles of vodka were completely empty and the two culprits were now sitting together on the couch drunkenly making out. Unable to move or turn away for a brief moment, Robin could do nothing but watch as Raven and Cyborg locked their lips in a drunken passion. Thankful that he hadn't been seen, Robin quickly exited and headed back for his room.

At first, all he could feel was hurt. He had been so sure that Raven had some sort of feelings for him, and after all they had recently gone through together, he was beginning to think that maybe he had feelings for her as well. He swore that he felt a strong chemistry when she hugged him after the defeat of her father, Trigon. 'Maybe I just imagined it,' Robin thought. As he lay awake in bed, unable to sleep, Robin realized that it wasn't fair for him to feel this way. More than anyone else, Raven deserved to be happy and who was he to stand in the way of that. Besides, it was no secret that he and Starfire had a 'thing' for each other. It was on the tip of everyone's tongues and the headline of every tabloid. He thought perhaps it was finally time to actually pursue a relationship with Starfire. 'At least Raven will have someone too,' he thought. 'I'm happy for them.'

Unfortunately, it seemed Robin had celebrated too soon. Raven didn't come out from her room for three days after Cyborg's birthday and the hybrid hero was avoiding the subject entirely. Over the course of the next two weeks they barely said a word to each other and almost completely failed to make any direct eye contact. Eventually, they apologized to each other and agreed that it had been a mistake. Over time things returned to normal. Still, Raven would never forget that night, her first kiss.

Shivering a little, Raven felt Robin drape his jacket across the back of her shoulders and wrap her tight with his arm. "It shouldn't have been my first kiss, you know."

"I don't know, Vic's a great guy, and I know he cared about you a lot."

Raven shakes her head. "No, I know that. I regretted that kiss at first, but not so much now. I love Vic, and I always have, just not that way. Not like I love you. We just weren't right for each other and we knew it…as long as alcohol wasn't in there, fucking things up." She moves closer to Robin, a shy simper playing its way across her face. "That isn't what I meant, though. I didn't mean that I shouldn't have kissed him back then…I meant that there should have been another kiss before that one. And who knows, maybe then the Cyborg kiss never would have happened…"

Robin looked curiously at her. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Dick. You've seen my dream. After we beat my father, after _you_ saved me…when I hugged you, I practically threw myself onto you. I wanted to kiss you so badly. I wanted to whisper 'I love you' into your ear…"

"So why didn't you?"

"I don't know. The usual reasons, I guess. I was afraid you'd reject me, afraid of what Starfire would think, or say. I was afraid of what it might do to our team, you know, later on down the road."

A soft, bemused smirk pulled lightly at his lips. That was Raven. Even in the heat of the moment she was always thinking three steps ahead. It was one of the reasons they connected so well, but it was also why he chose her as his right-hand. Sure, in Robin's absence, Cyborg would call the shots, but it was always Raven whom Robin would consult when making a team-affecting decision. It was Raven he would ask to help him go over case files and Raven that he chose to help him run the team through training drills. Robin was a great leader, but he was also the figure-head. Raven was just as influential to the team as he was. It's like they say, "Behind every great man is a great woman."

"I love you, Raven." He says softly as he rests his head gently on her shoulder.

"I love you too, Dick." She takes a deep breath in, and then releases it. "Robin?" She still called him by his old moniker, not so much as a petname, but almost as more of a term of endearment.

"Yeah?"

A short pause. Another breath. "Will you marry me?" All her life, Raven was never the outgoing or outspoken type. As far as the opposite sex was concerned, Raven was the asker, never the ask-ee. Her love life, or lack there of, had been a long, and drawn-out cycle of waiting and regretting. But no more. Not this time. She would wait no longer. Raven decided to take her fate into her own hands and ask her lover the question she had wanted to ask him for what felt like an eternity.

Robin just stared in shock, his mouth slightly agape. "That…that just isn't fair."

Raven looks up at in befuddlement. "What?"

He laughs sadly to himself and pulls a small black box out from his pocket. Inside the box was a beautiful, diamond engagement ring. "I've been hiding this thing from you for months. I've been working, day and night to block it from my thoughts so you wouldn't know about it through our 'bond'. Why do you think I convinced you to make Paris the last stop on this little vacation of ours? I knew how much you were looking forward to it since you didn't get to come here during our little 'Titans around the world' fiasco. That's why I suggested we come up here after dinner. I was going to propose to you right here. I can't _believe_ you beat me to it!"

Raven found herself laughing out loud. She felt bad but couldn't contain herself. What were the odds? She smiles warmly at him. "I bet you had a whole routine planned out too, didn't you?"

"And a speech! Look at my shoe, Raven! I untied it half an hour ago when I went to the bathroom. When I was ready, I was going to lean a little to the left, with my foot sticking out ever so slightly. I was counting on you always noticing the little things to let me know my shoe was untied. Then I'd kneel down to tie it, and slip the ring onto your finger." Arms crossed lightly over his chest, Robin's face was a mix of a half-smile, half-pout. "It was going to be perfect."

Raven laughs again. "Dick, I'd really hate to kick you when you're down, but that sounds _so_ corny."

"You would have loved it."

"Dick? You still haven't answered me."

He chuckles before grabbing her by the waist and hand and spinning her around gently. "Do you really need to hear my answer?"

"I think I do."

He smiles. "Of _course_ I'll marry you, Raven Roth. I'd marry you a thousand times over." Raven's smile is interrupted by Robin's lips and as the couple kiss, all the other people seem to melt away and only Robin, Raven, the Eiffel Tower, and the stars in the sky are left in existence.

After a few minutes, Raven reluctantly pulls away. "Ok, let's go."

"Huh? Go where?"

She grins. "Let's go get married."

"_What?!?"_

"What's the matter, Boy Wonder," she says tauntingly, "you said 'yes.'"

"You're _serious_?"

"Robin, we're in_ Paris_! It's the city of _love_!"

"That's exactly my point! This is Paris, not _Vegas_, besides, what about our friends?"

She looks at him kindly, but sternly at the same time. "I'm not marrying our friends, Robin. I'm marrying _you._ You're all I care about. I don't want our wedding to be a show, I want it to be about our love. So come on, what do you say?"

"You're really serious. Right _now_?"

Raven beams. She had been waiting for that one. "What better time?"

"And you call _me_ corny."

"Hey! It's _your_ line."

"I _know_, I know." He lets out a short, sharp breath. "Ok. Fine. What the hell. Let's do this."

Raven lets out a character-breaking squeal. "Ok, come on. There's a church not far from our hotel, we've only got four more hours to get there and get it done before they think we aren't coming and call it off."

Robin is dumbfounded. "Wait. You mean you already set everything up?"

Raven flashes him a wicked grin. "Of _course_. Where do you think I _was_ all morning?"

As the happy young couple runs towards the elevator, hand-in-hand, Robin says to her, "You know how much I love you, right Raven?" His voice is sincere and brimming with passion.

"She brushes her hand across his cheek, then closes her eyes and rests her head against his chest as she imagines the rest of their lives together. "Yeah," she says softly. "I do."

_**"If I were you,**_

_**I would take this as a sign.**_

_**Believe it's true,**_

_**we were never meant to fly.**_

_**I owe you, I know you**_

_**more than anyone alive,**_

_**and I will not let go." **_

Fade to white.

**Soundtrack: **"_Circles_" - Soul Coughing

* * *

Phew! Man! This was supposed to just be a short little interlude, but instead over the course of 3 weeks it somehow turned into my longest chapter yet. Seriously, this thing was like, 21 pages in ms word. Maybe thats not a lot for some of you, but thats pretty insane for me. Well, I hoped you liked it. I was trying out a cyclical writing style for this chapter. What did you guys think? Effective? Too redundant? Let me know. Thanks again for reading and I promise it won't be as long of a wait for the next update (I hope!) 

Some upcoming plotlines in this story:

Cyborg in the Justice League

Flash meets Flash

The Queen of Tamaran makes a new, unexpected friend.

The return of some long-lost friends of the Titans.

Speedy? Aqualad? Bumblebee? Where are you guys?

A trip to Star City to meet the happily married Graysons, but Robin has a secret. What is it?

Robin meets Green Arrow.

Red X revealed!

What ever happened to Jinx?

Batman vs. Slade!!! (seriously!)

Speaking of Slade...just who _is_ he, really?

The end of the world?

Titans together!


End file.
